About – The Natural Christmas Tree Co.

We believe

there's no substitute for a real tree

Choosing your tree at Prestbury Farm is a world away from a garden centre or supermarket.
So how do we grow such fresh, quality trees?

We are members of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association and have been involved with Christmas trees since 2008. We started selling our premium Christmas trees at our small holding at Prestbury Farm in 2013.

In 2012, we established a new plantation on the beautiful Gloucestershire/ Herefordshire border. Our plantation is established with a set of principles to ensure ecological sustainability through planting and harvesting in an eight year long cycle, which enables us to constantly produce a quality product.

We plant, cultivate and care for our trees on our plantation in Herefordshire, carefully managing them over the course of their lifetime to make sure you have the best tree for your family.

The Lifecycle of a Christmas tree

It takes approximately 8 years to grow a healthy christmas tree…

Learn more...

Trees planted since we started

Trees planted this year

number of years it takes for a tree to reach 6ft

We have always loved Christmas

An experience to remember

With children of our own, we are even more passionate about making the experience of choosing your tree one to remember.
Christmas is a time of traditions and we have some of our own including homemade mince pies to enjoy whilst choosing your tree along with treats for children. You can also pick up wreaths, handmade wooden reindeer and snowmen.

Christmas is a time of traditions and we have some of our own including homemade mince pies to enjoy whilst choosing your tree along with treats for children. You can also pick up wreaths, handmade wooden reindeer and snowmen.

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Find out how we care for our Trees

Life of a Christmas tree

Making sure you have a tree that takes pride of place in your house at Christmas takes longer than you might think – up to eight years in fact.

Year 1
Tiny Saplings
We plant most of our trees in the autumn. This helps ensure the roots establish well during the winter months. Each tree is planted by hand using spades. A team of two people will plant around 1,000 trees by hand each day. We use a marked rope to make sure they are planted in a straight line, the correct distance apart.

The trees that we plant are already three years old; the majority are Nordmann Fir, Blue Spruce and Norway Spruce.
Years 1-3
Weed & Feed
The main challenge during the early years is weed control. This makes sure the trees remain healthy and strong. There’s also a lot of mowing and strimming. We do use herbicide on occasions but do limit this as much as possible.

Every year, we analyse the soil and tree species to make sure that we give each tree the correct type and amount of fertiliser.
Year 4
First Prune
We start pruning the bases of our trees. This is done during their dormant stage over the winter. Base pruning involves removing the bottom 6-8 inches of branches on every tree, this is carried out by hand and can be hard work and time consuming. It is important that we do it though as it improves airflow through the trees which reduces the risk of infection as well as stopping this lower growth that would be wasted when the tree comes to spend Christmas inside.

We’ll also start shearing the Blue Spruce and Norway spruce to keep them in good shape. The Nordmann Fir will have some pruning work to ensure the top of the tree grows well.
Years 5-6
Careful Monitoring
We’re continuing to manage weeds and make sure we are using the correct fertiliser so our trees get the right nutrients that they need. We’ll also carefully monitor our trees for pests such as aphid. It’s always good to see ladybirds though, they help to keep these aphids in check.

It is now time to fork prune the Nordmann Fir. This means some of the lower branches will have up to three years’ worth of growth pruned to ensure the tree is in really good shape. We also plyer crimp the Leader (top of the Nordmann Fir) to reduce sap and nutrient flow. This makes sure the tree is compact and even.
Years 7-10
Training, Labelling & harvest
Along with continuing to prune our trees, we also do a stock take of trees and label them in the summer ready for harvesting. Trees will be harvested when they are 8-10 years old. They’ll then make their way from our plantation to our farm and into your living room.
8yrs +
A new home