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How Did This Get Started

Our house has some great spots for a very tall Christmas Tree. However, they are insanely expensive ($400+). our Front yard wasn’t getting much use in the leftmost 20 feet. Well let’s take that area and grow some trees.

Planting

The farm started with Douglas Fir seedlings that arrived in late March 2023. They were planted three days after they were packaged, which should allow for a good chance of success. Douglas Fir was chosen since it grows well in Maryland. The natural shape is a cone, so minimal shearing should be needed.

Most of the forest and farm services reccomend a dibble bar to plant the trees. I started looking for one, but they weren’t available locally. The dibbles I could find were over $75 and would take a few days to arrive. I decided to just use a shovel and go for it. I did need to clean up a few roots from prior trees. That was taken care of with a lopper and sawzall.

This Minnesota DNR video was simple enough for me to follow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giXfCHT05wk

Planned Maintenance

These were planted right before a weekend of rain. When the rain clears, I will ring of mulch around each tree. For the first year they will need to be watered frequently, especially in the heat. The plan is to water 3 times a week in the first year, at least until I read otherwise. After the first year, they should not need watering. After the first two years or so, they need to be pruned so that there is only one runner growing straight up. About that same time, they will need to be shaped so that they grow to look like Christmas trees. That should be simple maintenance a few times per year.

Expectations

I would like to have at least one five foot tree in five years, and a ten foot tree in ten years. The survival rate for Douglas Fir seedlings ranges from 95% for small well maintained plots, to 60% for low effort bulk planting. I plan on giving this high effort with at least a little skill. At least I would like to hope that all of my research pays off.