Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia

During a Globe and Mail chat conversation the question was asked about rated stands, especially for big trees. Click here to go to the "stand" section below.

' Tis The Season !!!

Happy Holidays everyone! The Christmas Tree growers of Nova Scotia wish all a joyous and warm yuletide,
may the magic of Christmas capture all of you.

The Retail Lot and the Choose and Cut Page will take you to a number of listings where you can find your own fresh, Nova Scotian grown tree. Nothing can replace the warmth and aroma of a beautiful natural tree.
Many worry about depleting the forest by cutting trees, but please be aware that our growers manage their lots for continuous renewal, so there are always beautiful young, fast growing trees in place to grow for the future. Every acre we manage removes carbon dioxide from the air and generates enough oxygen for eighteen
or more people. Please purchase your trees from people who truly care about their land and their trees; and farm these trees in one of the most sustainable agricultural systems in the world. We love what we do. We hope you love our trees , wreaths and garland. Merry Christmas Everyone.

"just the right size" "we think we like this one for our room"

Trees For Troops 2009

Christmas tree growers in Canada and the United States annually show their appreciation to our troops who serve to protect us by supplying trees to the families of service people who are overseas. This year Nova Scotia growers have donated over eight hundred trees for the Trees For Troops program.

Here the first family at Windsor Park in Halifax receive a tree from the base commander and Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia President Jim Webber, right.

It was a true pleasure to coordinate this activity. In fact growers were so helpful that the quota needed was filled before a significant number could even be contacted for this year. Thanks to all who have contributed.

Santa's "elves" Mike Penny, Fred Delory, Doug MacAdam and Jim Webber

A special presentation was made to Gerry Billard and his family, below, whose son is currently in Afghanistan.
Gerry (centre) is the design specialist for our Christmas Tree Journal, a truly great guy, and a grandfather looking forward to his son's return on Christmas eve! Merry Christmas Gerry.

The Windsor Park Military Family Resource Centre does a fantastic job of coordinating Trees For Troops.
The music, the children, the love so evident in the Centre, all add a special glow to Christmas.

Thank-you all, the experience has helped enrich our Christmas.

Christmas Tree Stand Information.

Many individuals wonder about Christmas tree stands. The biggest concern is to purchase one which is sturdy and reliable - not much fun picking a tree up off the floor, especially after it has been decorated. BUT, remember that cut Christmas trees generally consume 1 quart of water per day for every inch of stem diameter. So a tree that has a handle, or "butt', of 4 inches will drink up to 4 quarts of water per day. Sadly, many of the cheaper stands on the market cannot hold this much water. So the refrain we repeat so often is,
"make sure you buy a stand that can hold lots of water"!

Although the study Dr. Gary Chastagner did on stands is now dated (Dr. Gary is with the University of Washington State and a leading world research figure for tree freshness), some of the stands his work approved (after testing 22 different stands) were:

1) Never Fail Tree Stand # C144 - Cinco Plastics Inc, http://www.cincoplastics.com
                               ~ good fro trees right up to 7 inch diameters
2) 4 Brace Christmas Tree Stand - Gunnard Company, 1-800-486-6273 (USA)
                               ~ good for trees up to 5 inch diameters
3) Yule Stand with 10 quart bowl - Tim Mitchell, http://www.timmitchellsyulestand.com
                               ~ good for trees up to 5 inch diameters, BUT requires large center hole in butt for the
                                    stand spike.
4) For up to 4 inch tree stem diameter, the following stands tested well for water supply to the tree:

        A) Christmas Tree Stand # 4635 - Lakewood Engineering and Manufacturing(www.lakewoodeng.com)
        B) Never Fail tree Stand # C148 - see No. 1 above
        C) Heavy Duty Christmas Tree Stand #4936 - Lakewood Engineering and Manufacturing (see A)
        D) Davis Quick Stand SLS7 with 9 quart bucket - Lewis Lifetime Tools,
                                    http://www.lewistools.com/page_santa

As mentioned, there are likely newer and perfectly good stands on the market. Look for a stand that holds lots of water, and consider that some stands hold the tree so far up from the bottom that the water underneath cannot reach the bottom of the tree stem. This water is "lost to the tree, so investigate this if purchasing a new stand. Good luck, have a safe and joyful Christmas with a fresh tree receiving lots of water.

Nova Scotia SMART Tree share purchase form

Needless to say, the purchase form was not included with the mail-out for the invitation to purchase member and investment shares in the SMART Tree Christmas Tree Research Cooperative. Unfortunately, somehow the form was blank on the email forwarded (isn't technology wonderful!). You can get a "pdf" form by clicking the following link. PDF readers are available free online if you do not yet have one on your WEB browser. SMART Tree Purchase Form. For more information about SMART Tree, see below.

SMART Tree Research Cooperative

Starting around or about June 4, Christmas tree growers around Nova Scotia will begin receiving a mail out from the Smart Christmas Tree Research Cooperative, Ltd. asking individuals to purchase shares in this new venture set up to support Christmas tree research, most significantly the very extensive "SMART Tree" research program centered out of the Nova Scotia Agriculture College. Dr. Raj Lada, a plant stress physiologist, will chair this initiative, but he has enlisted specialists the world over to help study, define, isolate and then improve the needle retention properties and overall quality of our Atlantic Canadian balsam fir Christmas tree and greenery business. We already have agreements in place for funding support from our Provincial Governments, INFOR of New Brunswick, the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia, Agri-Futures and the National Science and Engineering Research Canada programs. We are currently awaiting a decision from ACOA on a very extensive "Atlantic Innovations Fund" proposal we have submitted. Critical to all of this is the need for growers to illustrate support through matching funds. Consequently the cooperative has been set up to allow all growers to participate, but most importantly, in a way that will eventually return dividends, not just with better trees and technology for the cultivation side, but possible real monetary returns from the development and sale of new products and technologies that can be applied to both Christmas trees and many other horticultural crops. The cooperative and it's members will have first marketing rights to such developments.

The first and major priority drawn by growers from around Atlantic Canada is the issue of needle retention for trees that have been cut and sent to market. This aspect of tree performance is often referred to as "keepability". To this end extensive tests are already underway to find our best and discover exactly what makes them the best. Many growers have had the opportunity to witness Dr. Lada's presentations first hand at various grower association technical sessions. Included below is just one photo illustrating some of the dramatic differences in the keepability performance of some sample limbs from the Nova Scotia plus tree orchard. By the way, it has been proven for some time now that the performance of a limb will exactly match the performance of a whole cut tree.

All the samples above where cut at the same time, placed in water, and then let stand until needle drop occurred - or in the case of some - didn't occur! The very best trees are already grafted and will be moved to the new orchard site in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia. (see below)

It is imperative that growers involve themselves with the cooperative. If you have not received any information please use the contacts page to alert the Executive Director for the Christmas Tree Council, Matthew Wright, and we will certainly get the information out to you. Currently, membership in the cooperative, ably led by grower and accountant Georg Ernst, is limited to growers or individuals with a vested interest in the Christmas tree and greenery business. We want this to be for growers, by growers, and controlled by growers.