There’s two choices when it comes to selecting a Christmas tree: artificial or real.
Picking the artificial tree is easy enough. You drive to a store that sells them, you pick the one you like the most and bring it home. It will be in segments that will require some assembly and it doesn’t need tending to as Christmas draws closer.
Or, you can go with a real tree. Traditional, and it doesn’t require reading instructions that can, on occasion, lead to some frustration but it will require some water to keep the tree fresh.
The biggest difference between the two choices is the smell. A real tree brings a fragrance to the room that can’t be beat. And in 2018, 32.8 million people agreed.
That number is the number of real Christmas trees sold last year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.
As for Arkansas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture tracks the number of Christmas trees harvested and sold by state and the most recent numbers for the state show that not quite 9,000 trees
The Arkansas Christmas Tree Growers Association lists a total of 15 farms that are members and run from Pea Ridge to Hamburg with spots in central and southwest Arkansas. The one area in Arkansas without a Christas tree farm is the row crop heavy northeast corner.
The association, on its web site, wrote that its “primary function … is to provide an opportunity for continuing education and communication for the membership and to promote the products of its members.”
The association traces its roots back to the 1970s and “at that time Arkansas had less than six farms with Christmas trees growing on them” but landowners were looking for options that would supplement their income and they, “sensed a market for quality, locally grown, fresh Christmas trees.”
Most pine trees at the time grown in Arkansas were Scotch but those interested in growing Christmas trees wanted more information on the Virginia pine.
It worked, an Extension Service study noted, “Arkansas tree farms [are] likely to have Leyland cypress and Virginia Pine.”
The association said its primary goal is “ to provide a quality product and a quality experience for the customers who choose to purchase a fresh Arkansas produced Christmas tree, wreath, garland, or related products.”
Many of the Christmas tree farms in Arkansas provide more bang for your buck as you might have a Santa sighting on the grounds to wagon rides while some also have ornaments for sale.
That’s the case for Motley’s Christmas Tree Farm in Little Rock which claims, “several thousand ornaments to choose from” and a wide variety of trees like the “Carolina Sapphire, Leyland Cypress and Fraser Fir.”
Motley’s is among the farms that let you pick a living tree to be cut down, while also having a variety of trees that are ready to be loaded in your car.
And if you choose to cutdown a tree Motley’s will “supply everything you will need from the saw to the tie-down string.” and they also said, “we also shake, bale, and load your tree for you.”
The shake is important lest you want to also bring home a squirrel or other living critter in the branches on your living tree.
According to the Extension Service, the variety of tree makes a difference.
“Some of the species like the Leyland cypress don’t readily lose their needles, so that’s a plus,” said Tamara Walkingstick, associate director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center and an extension forester for the Division of Agriculture. “Some like the Eastern Red Cedar have needles that you find in your carpet in June.”
She added, “the freshest [trees] last the longest. That’s why choosing and cutting a live tree can be so rewarding” but, “most pre-cut trees have been sprayed with a desiccant to retain freshness.”
Those looking for other varieties to cut down will be out of luck in Arkansas.
“The other more popular species, such as Fraser fir, don’t grow here,” Walkingstick said. “We do not have the right soil or growing conditions.”
That’s not true for the tree lots where the Fraser fir is available pre-cut and ready to load.
“Most of what we buy here comes from North Carolina where it is a huge crop,” Walkingstick said. “Some of the other species imported for resale here are noble fir, blue spruce and some white pine.”
The other thing to remember with a fresh tree is that stand needs water added to it along with with the occasional misting.
“After a few weeks, it’s going to get dry,” Walkingstick said.”When it’s ready to come down, recycle it … but never, ever burn it in your fireplace.”
Arkansas Christmas Tree Farms
Benton
Papa Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm
Paul Warford
4976 Warford Road, Benton
Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Also sold during the week by appointment)
501-779-1062
Bismarck
McAlpine Christmas Tree Farm
Harold and Bobbie McAlpine
197 Christmas Tree Lane, Bismarck
Open 7 days a week, daylight to dark.
501-865-3731
Charleston
Pine Grove Christmas Tree Farms
Greg and Betty Eckart
2919 Yocum St. Charleston
Monday – Friday, 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
479-965-4428 or 479-965-4826
Fordyce
Tidwell Christmas Tree Farm
John Tidwell
3404 Calhoun 162, Fordyce
Open Saturday and Sunday, call 870-352-7371 for hours
870-352-7371
Forrest City
New Castle Farms
Kevin Vandiver
7596 Hwy. 284, Forrest City
Monday – Friday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
870-630-0607
Hamburg
Old Milo Tree Farms
Brad and Lonni Davis
604 Ashley 485, Hamburg
Monday – Friday, 1 p.m. until dark
Saturday, 10 a.m. until dark
Sundays, 1 p.m. until dark
870-853-2379
Jacksonville
Geisler’s Holiday Forest
Jim and Ella Geisler
8817 Dorsey Road, Jacksonville
Saturday, 9 a.m. to dark
Sunday, 1 p.m. to dark (Also sold during the week by appointment)
501-224-3797
Little Rock
Motley’s Tree Farm
Randy Motley
13724 Sandy Ann Drive, Little Rock
Monday-Friday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
501-888-1129
Lonoke
Schilling’s Family Christmas Tree Farm
1476 Hwy. 294, Lonoke
Monday – Wednesday, noon to 5 p.m.
Thursday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
501-982-1046
Mabelvale
Bradbury Tree Farm
Rickey Bradbury
9427 Donna Lane, Mabelvale
Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
501-602-2449
Ozark
Christmas Tree Lane
Jim Lane
8102 South Hwy. 23, Ozark
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
479-667-8412
E-Mail:
Paris
Johnson Christmas Tree Farm
Thomas & ReeNita Johnson
3267 South State Hwy. 309, Paris
Saturday, 10 a.m. to dark
Sunday, 1 p.m. to dark (Also sold during the week by appointment)
479-963-3616
Pea Ridge
Wonderland Tree Farm
Martin and Jill Babb
14821 Miser Road, Pea Ridge,
Tuesday-Friday, 2 p.m. to dark
Saturday, 9 a.m. to dark
Sunday, noon to dark
479- 212-2964
Romance
Romance Christmas Tree Farm
Kevin and Janet Newcom
1260 Hwy 5 North, Romance
Monday – Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
501-556-5173
Rudy
Lollis Christmas Tree Farm
W. L. (Buddy) and Connie Lollis
2817 Zora Chapel Drive, Rudy
Sunday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
479-474-2102
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