Shearing Fraser Firs…

Shearing Christmas Trees is a necessary and vital part of growing.  Without shearing you would have a tree that was twice as tall, gaps everywhere, and no traditional shape.  In short, no self-respecting American would be caught dead displaying one of these things in their home.  The goal is to shape the tree into a triangular shape with beautiful foliage and lots of limbs to hang ornaments on.   Shearing really has two goals, to shorten the top from the 2-3 feet the Fraser normally will grow down to 8-12 inches and then shearing the sides of the trees so that there is a beautiful plane of greenery that emphasizes the tradition upside down v shape of a Christmas tree.  This shearing produces thick beautiful foliage in a compact package that is a prized thing of beauty.

The process starts when the tree is 2-3 feet tall and from that point on the tree is sheared every year until it is harvested which can be anywhere from 5-15 years. The shearing cannot be done by anyone and must be learned.  Too much shearing and you cut off all the buds and the tree will not grow the thick foliage.  Too little shearing and the thick beautiful faces of the perfect Christmas tree are never achieved.

Our highly skilled workers that have sheared  tens of thousands of trees use a pair of clippers in their left hand and a razor sharp 16″ bladed knife in their right hand.  They shear the sides with the knife and isolate a single top and cut out competing tops and the job is done.  A good shearer can shape and create 400 medium size trees a day.  This is hard but very satisfying work because you are creating an artistic masterpiece that will some day be the focus of a very special family holiday.

Below is our field manager, Phil Hobart, demonstrating proper shearing technique…isn’t he talented?