The Rocks Estate is one of
the nearly 15,000 farms growing Christmas trees in the United States. That
translates to some 350,000 acres planted in Christmas trees.
Here at The Rocks, which also
serves as the North Country Conservation & Education Center for the Society
for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, there are 1,400 acres of protected
and carefully managed farm and forest land. The property was deeded to the
Forest Society in 1978 with the stipulation that there be a crop in the field.
For more than three decades, that crop has been Christmas trees.
That means that at The Rocks
we get to bring some of the magic of Christmas to our customers, all while we’re
helping to preserve open space in a beautiful part of the state and maintain important
wildlife habitat.
Here are a few more fun
Christmas tree facts:
* * The tradition of decorating evergreens at Christmastime was introduced in the United States in the 1800s and evolved
quickly from tabletop-sized trees to the floor-to-ceiling trees we typically
trim today.
* Christmas trees,
taken randomly from forests, were sold commercially in the U.S. beginning
around 1850.
* Franklin Pierce,
the only U.S. President to hail from New Hampshire, introduced the first
Christmas tree to the White House in 1853.
* The first
Christmas tree farm was planted in 1901 in New Jersey.
* It can take 15
years to grow a Christmas tree from seed to the typical height of 6- to 7-feet.
(At The Rocks, we plant seedlings when they are 4 or 5 years old and tend them
for the next 6 to 9 years before they are harvested. Each of our more than 50,000
trees is hand-pruned each summer for optimal shaping.)
* For every real
Christmas tree harvested from a farm, up to 3 seedlings are planted the
following year.
* Over 100,000
people are employed at tree farms in the United States.
* More than 25
million real Christmas trees are sold nationally each year.
At The Rocks we strive to
grow beautiful trees – and to help make your holidays carefree and festive.
At our super shopper-friendly
online shop, you may order your Christmas tree now and select a delivery date that suits your
schedule for decking the halls. You’ll also find tree accessories in the online
shop to further ease your tree trimming efforts. Our easy-peasy Christmas tree stand makes setting up your tree a cinch – just be sure to
ask us to pre-drill your tree. We think this stand is so great that we offer it
to our customers at cost – and shipping is free on this and all online items!
If you’re tired of crawling under your decorated tree to keep it watered, check
out our watering spout for easy watering through the holidays.
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| Beary Merry wreath |
We also offer an array of
beautiful, handmade wreaths, both online and at the farm. Our wreath decorators
create new designs each season to complement our stock of favorites. You can
see one of our wreath makers at work in this video.
Take a peek at our online
wreath shop to see our selection, which ranges from our Just a
Bow wreath to our popular Frugal Yankee, the whimsical Beary Merry Christmas
wreath, and the all new Snowflake wreath. We also offer wreath hangers and
beautiful garlands in lengths from 10 to 40 feet.
Important dates at The Rocks:
If you’d like to tag-your-own tree and get in on our gaudiest tree contest, this weekend (October 20th-21st) is your last chance!
The Rocks opens for
cut-your-own Christmas tree season November 17th. The farm and
shops will be open daily (except for Thanksgiving Day) through Christmas Eve,
with plenty of festive fun planned for the season.
So, come for the day, or make
a weekend of it. We’ll see you at The Rocks!
