PROFILE SALLE FARMS CO
Oh
Christmas tree!
Other things may have changed, but the tradition of bringing an evergreen tree indoors at Christmas lives on. Judith Tooth reports.
mas Eve before bringing it in- doors, or is it already in pride of place?
W
If religious beliefs or child- hood memories guide you to dec- orate the tree just a day or two before Christmas Day, chanc- es are you’re happy with a Nor- way Spruce: fresh, fragrant and fine-needled. The Norway Spruce is the tra-
Top: Christmas tree manager at Salle Farms, Tom Barwick. Inset: Each Christmas tree is assessed and tagged, with a range of colours to indicate different heights.
hen do you put up your Christmas tree? Do you hold out until Christ-
ditionalist’s tree. But, if you like to start Christmas early and want a tree that will last a few weeks in- doors, you’ve probably switched – like most of the nation – to the stately and softer-needled Nord- mann Fir.
“The situation has complete- ly reversed in the past 20 years,” says Christmas tree manager at Salle Farms, Tom Barwick. “We used to grow 80 per cent Norway Spruce and 20 per cent Nord- mann Fir, but now it’s the other way around.
“Houses are a lot warmer than they used to be, and people like to bring their tree in earlier, and the Nordmann Fir is much better at dealing with those conditions without dropping its needles. “But the Norway Spruce is the
real, traditional tree: it smells like Christmas.”
The first Christmas trees at
Salle Farms, north of Norwich, were planted in 1995 and the plantation now extends to 37ha. Diversifying in this way was a good move by estate man- ager Paul Hovesen, says Tom. “It’s a good use of lower grade land, and,
with
farm staff employed year-round, creates val- uable winter work at what would otherwise be a quiet time – un- less, of course, like this year, the weather delays sugar beet harvesting.”
It also works well for Tom, who for most of the year is the estate’s head gardener, looking after the productive walled garden and pleasure gardens behind Salle
Hall. Although the hall and gar- dens, owned by Sir John White, are private, they – and the farm – are regular hosts to visits organ- ised through the Country Trust by children least able to access the countryside.
Most Christmas tree sales are wholesale to garden centres and farm shops for sale to the pub- lic, and to ho- tels, churches and schools for their dis- plays.
Re-
tailers like to offer trees in
the four week- ends in the run up to the big day – al-
though how close to Christ-
mas Day the final weekend is dic- tates whether it counts as one of the four: last year it didn’t; this year it does. “Cutting this year began on the last day of October, and the first tree left the yard on 1 No-
DECEMBER 2019 • ANGLIA FARMER 45
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