The Christmas tree is the center piece of the holiday decor. The sparkle of the lights and the shimmer of tinsel are favorite holiday memories of both children and adults alike. It’s a gathering place for family on that very special day of the year. But, there’s lots of interesting facts about Christmas trees that few people know.
*The first known decorated Christmas tree originated in Riga, Latvia in 1510.
*The commercial sale of Christmas trees began around 1850.
*The very first retail Christmas tree lot was in New York in 1851. It was started by Mark Carr.
*Christmas trees are grown in every state in the United States.
*Live Christmas trees are grown just like any other crop. To make sure that there are enough trees, as many as three new seedlings are sown to replace every tree that is cut.
*Approximately 73 million Christmas trees are planted each year.
*Around half a million acres of land is devoted to growing Christmas trees in the United States.
Live Christmas Tree
*At any one time, there are approximately 350 million Christmas trees growing on farms in the United States.
*Christmas trees can grow in very poor soil conditions where a lot of other crops won’t grow.
*Just one acre filled with Christmas trees will produce enough oxygen on a daily basis for 18 people.
*There are around 21,000 farms in the United States that grow Christmas trees and those farms provide jobs for about 100,000 people.
* There are over 12,000 Christmas tree farms in the United States where you can pick out your tree and cut it yourself.
*It takes between 4 and 15 years for a Christmas tree to reach 6 to 7 feet.
*Every year there are from 30 to 35 million live Christmas trees sold in the United States.
*The best selling Christmas trees are Scotch Pine, Fraser Fir, Douglas Fir and Balsam Fir.
*Around 175,000 live Christmas trees are purchased online and from catalogs and shipped through the mail each year.
*Christmas trees are grown without the use of chemicals and very little pesticides are used.
*Live trees are completely recyclable and can easily be chipped into mulch.
*Throughout the United States, there are over 4,000 programs where you can have your Christmas tree recycled.
*Recycled Christmas trees have been used for various purposes such as to make sand, to create barriers for soil erosion and they been used in ponds to provide shelter for fish.
Written by Connie Corder for ChristmasChimney.com, Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved
Thank you for writing this article. So many people just do not know the benefits of having a real tree. Another interesting fact about Christmas trees are they are made in the U.S.A. Our American $ stays here! Lets support our economy.