"I've grown the Christmas tree for No 10 Downing Street - twice," Olly Comb from York Christmas Trees.

“I’d always grown Christmas trees – as a child growing up in the Peak District we all worked on a local estate,” says Olly, who was a forester by training. He initially planted 2,000 trees on an acre a year for eight years.

“We buy the tree at three years old, and then it takes at least another five years before they are sold to the public – it’s a long-term commitment,” says Olly. So those first trees they planted in 1998 couldn’t be sold until 2003, which was sadly the year they lost Nigel.

“In 2006 we made the decision, with Gilly, to expand the tree business,” says Olly. From then on they decided to plant 10,000 to 12,000 trees a year – that equates to around eight acres a year.

“We have steadily grown the business every year and have got to the point where we plant around 15,000 a year. We have got a really good base of retail and wholesale customers for trees we have grown ourselves and with a little help from our friends at Scottish Christmas Trees and James Craig Farms.” In York they grow mainly Nordmann firs, but also a few Norway spruce, and since 2020 some Bornmüller firs to spread the risk.

“Unlike some other growers, our primary purpose is to grow trees to feed our retail site here in Wigginton. All my effort when I am growing and cultivating trees is focused on producing a tree that everyone wants to buy. We have to grow what the customer wants. Customers like Nordmann Firs, and we can grow them here – they like the dry and heat but like some moisture in the winter.”

York Christmas Trees are a relatively small to medium-sized grower, which, says Olly, means they have to do something different. “They are grown with love – every single tree is handcrafted. We are very much an artisan producer. It has changed a lot over the years. It has gone from a by-product of forestry to quite intensive horticulture.” Olly says he is often asked why he doesn’t grow pumpkins and other products. “I am a specialist tree producer – I spend all year growing Christmas trees and nothing else.” Although they do also have a Christmas Barn selling all things festive.

Growing Christmas trees is far from a seasonal job. “Straight after Christmas we go back into the fields we have harvested the trees from and start tidying up what’s left. February, March and April we are pruning each tree. April/May: We clear one field a year, mulch all the stumps, sort the drainage, and put a cover crop in for the summer.”

In May they start weed control, and in June and July the trees are pruned again and hand-shaped before each individual tree is ‘bird-sticked’ by hand. It means each tree has a plastic stick clipped to it to stop the birds from sitting on the top of the trees, bending and breaking the tops off. “We probably put out 6,000 to 8,000 bird sticks every year,” says Olly. August is slightly quieter due to the heat. “You have to be very careful doing work on them during extremes of weather, as they are very vulnerable – this year for the first time ever we’ve had sunburn.”

He says even now he is constantly learning. “Every year there is something new, and you have to work to improve it and adapt. Four of the last five summers have been extreme. This year we’ve had a very dry summer and a very dry autumn. We’ve never irrigated. We moved to planting in October, and we spent far more effort on site preparation and are working very hard on soil management to try to retain more moisture in the soil.”

And he says Christmas trees are a sustainable crop.

“We are taking farmland and putting a crop that stays in the ground for up to ten years. It absorbs a considerable amount of carbon; the pruning goes back in the soil, and we are doing a lot to improve the soil, so not only are we fixing carbon above ground, but we are also fixing a lot in the ground, both with the roots and the soil,” says Olly. “Also there are benefits to nature. We’ve had an ecology survey that showed we have 24 species of birds.”

And he must be doing something right, as for the second time in six years, York Christmas Trees has been chosen to supply the tree for outside Number 10 Downing Street.

“First time was luck; the second time the children have had to admit there’s a bit of skill,” laughs Olly. Two of his children, Lottie and Joe, help out, and he is hopeful Joe will follow in his footsteps and become a tree farmer. Olly’s brother and sister-in-law and their children are very supportive, as some of the trees are grown on their land – this is a real family affair.

The Christmas Tree Growers Association – run by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society – runs an annual competition of its members who can enter a tree. Members then get to vote for their favourite tree in a number of different classes, and the winner of each class then goes through to the final when they vote for the best tree. The winning grower then gets to supply the 20-foot tree for outside Number 10. “The fact it is voted for by your peers makes it even more rewarding – it’s the jewel in the crown of the industry,” says Olly, who says he still has to select the exact tree but has a shortlist he is going to choose from for delivery by the end of November. He also supplies York Minster and some local councils.

Despite the introduction of fake trees, Olly says demand for real trees is quietly growing.

“I speak to our customers and try to understand what’s driving their decisions. It used to be about price, then it became more about carbon footprint, but since Covid there has been a very distinct shift, people want some connection with what they are buying. They like the fact we are a local, family business.” yorkchristmastrees.co.uk