James H. Brown
Professor and Associate Chairman
Forestry, OARDC
William F. Cowen, Jr.
Professor Emeritus
The Ohio State University
Randall B. Heiligmann
State Extension Specialist, Forestry
The Ohio State University
Christmas tree production is an important industry in Ohio, and the potential for expansion of the industry is good. Ohio's large urban population, as well as its proximity to other heavily populated states, places it in a very advantageous position for the production and marketing of Christmas trees. In addition, much land in the state is well suited for growing Christmas trees, and in many instances their production can provide income from areas that might otherwise remain unproductive.
Accurate information on the number of Christmas tree growers, number and type of trees produced and total sales by Ohio growers is presently not available. However, estimates by the Ohio Christmas Tree Growers, Inc., a statewide growers organization, indicate that the supply of high quality, Ohio- grown trees is not sufficient to meet demands of wholesalers and retailers. It is probable that less than 20 percent of Christmas trees sold in Ohio are actually grown in the state. The remainder are imported from surrounding states, the West Coast and Canada.
Returns from growing Christmas trees vary greatly, depending on the particular combination of cultural, marketing and management practices carried out by the individual Christmas tree grower. However, studies show that sales of high quality trees produced using sound management practices should bring returns comparable to those from many other agricultural products.
Intensive cultural work is needed to produce high quality Christmas trees. Operations include selection and evaluation of planting sites, species and seed source selection, proper planting techniques, weed control, fertilization where needed, insect and disease control and shearing and shaping to improve form and density. Unless these operations are carried out properly, trees are usually of low quality and cannot be sold on the competitive market at premium prices. Sometimes they cannot be sold at all.
In sections that follow, guidelines are presented for producing high quality Christmas trees in Ohio.
Copyright © The Ohio State University 1991
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Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.
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