There has been a long-standing debate between using a live Christmas tree or artificial Christmas trees. Growing a live Christmas tree involves long periods of planning, preparation and strategy. During this period, the bulk of the current practices have damaging effects not only on the land and area they are cultivated in, but also on the trees being grown.

Here we outline the basic steps in farming live Christmas trees and its effect on the environment:

1.      Land is prepared for planting. Large plots of land need to be cleared for planting live Christmas trees, and this is typically done two a year or two ahead of time. On average, live Christmas trees should be spaced at least 6 feet apart on all sides, meaning that to farm 1200 live Christmas trees, one acre of land needs to be cleared.

Having this much land cleared spells trouble for existing species of plants. Many farms disrupt the ecosystems in woods and vast forests where there are established systems of animals and plants. Because there is a need to clear this much space for farming live Christmas trees, many of these ecosystems are disregarded and subsequently eradicated. What’s worse is that this land is left unused for the two years it takes to ready them for live Christmas tree planting—not only are living systems destroyed, the land is not utilized and loses its arability.

2.      Seedlings are ordered and planted in mid-February. As these young trees can be very delicate, much care is taken to keep them safe and viable. This includes pulling up and destroying weeds and other non-harmful plants that may compete with the live Christmas trees for nutrients, and also extensively and constantly spraying them with pesticides. These pesticides are often sprayed directly onto trees, and since they are constantly applied, consumers come into contact with them when they are purchased down the line.

3.      Growing the live Christmas tree. While a live Christmas tree is being grown, a number of things are done to make it more commercially viable. The tree is shaped and sheared constantly and insecticides, herbicides and fungicides are applied on a regular basis. As with pesticides, insecticides and fungicides stay on the tree and may be transferred to the home. In addition to this transfer, many studies have also found strong traces of these chemicals in the urine of those working in the live Christmas tree industry. Chemical run-off is also a dangerous effect associated with all farming in the US, when they are washed from the tree in rain or watering and flow into local watersheds. Additionally, the mature live Christmas tree are often sprayed with a colorant to give them that fresh, attractive green color.

4.      Cutting down and displaying live Christmas trees. When they have grown to an appropriate age and size, live Christmas trees are then cut down by buyers, brought to their homes, displayed for a few days or weeks, and then discarded on sidewalks, alleys and dumps. Since there can be any number of live Christmas trees in a neighborhood, composting or disposing of live Christmas trees can be an issue for areas that do not have set programs.

There are many intricate steps taken in the 6-12 years of growing a single Christmas tree. Multiplied by the thousands, the accumulated environmental effect can be devastating.

*Sources for this article include ehow.com and forestry.msu.edu