A Year in the Life of a Christmas Tree Farmer

In 1839, Simon Wyckoff bought 172 acres of what is now Warren County in central New Jersey. More than 100 years later, in 1958, the fifth and sixth generations of Wyckoffs, who had transitioned to dairy farming, planted 1,000 Norway spruce seedlings on a difficult piece of ground. Their first harvest was in 1967, when they sold six trees for $5 each. In 1970, they sold the cows, and the family became full-time Christmas tree farmers.

John Wyckoff is the seventh generation to run the family farm. Today, Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm has more than a dozen species planted on about 70 acres.

“We have families that have been coming here for multiple generations,” Wyckoff says. “We see the couple that comes in when they’re first married, maybe when they’re here for their first tree, and then they come back as the family grows, and pretty soon they’re grandparents. We’re at four generations with some of the families. It’s a tradition for them.”

Wyckoff is the 2024 president of the National Christmas Tree Association and a 12-time New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association grand champion. He has entered the National Christmas Tree Association competition twice. In 2013, he was named grand champion grower and provided a tree to the White House. As reserve grand champion in 2019, he provided the tree for the vice president’s home.

A Year in the Life

Christmas tree farmers work on a completely different timeline than other growers. “It’s not ‘plant them in the spring, harvest them in the fall,’” Wyckoff says. “You plant your crop and hope to harvest 7 to 10 years down the road, depending on the species, so it’s a long-term investment.”

Throughout every year, the trees must be tended to, “whether it’s insects, fungus, mowing, shearing, or planting and harvest,” he says. “And there’s a lot of physical labor in there.”

The season starts in January, when the Wyckoffs finish shearing and shaping any trees they didn’t get to in the fall. They also perform maintenance tasks on their equipment. 

Tree planting begins in April. “That’s one of the fun times,” Wyckoff says. Throughout the spring, he and his crew fertilize and conduct regular field walks to monitor the trees for potential insect or fungus problems. They also practice herbicide banding: spraying in narrow strips along roads of trees to prevent weeds from encroaching.

Mowing soon becomes a full-time job. Wyckoff says keeping things trimmed helps lower branches develop better, prevents moisture buildup that could promote fungus, and allows predators easier access to vermin. “We also like to keep the farm looking nice,” he says. Throughout the summer, they shear the trees to keep them in the perfect Christmas tree shape.

Once fall comes, there’s another round of herbicide banding and it’s time to get the farm cleaned up and ready for sale season, which begins the day after Thanksgiving. Then it’s all hands on deck, selling trees until they run out. 

Wyckoff says their most popular trees are Fraser, Canaan, and Douglas firs, which are North American varieties. He has added international seed sources from Turkey, China, and Georgia, and is experimenting with some hybrid crosses. “It’s interesting because they take on different characteristics,” he says. “It’s an evolving business. Back in the day, my father and grandfather planted Scotch pine and Norway spruce. They’re not where the market is anymore.”

Customers also can get a uniquely colored tree at Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm. Wyckoff learned about a latex-based paint formulated for Christmas trees at a growers meeting and, despite his family’s objections, decided to give it a try.

On a Saturday night just before Halloween, he painted a few white and a few purple trees near the road, where people driving by could see them. The next morning, traffic was stopped, and people were taking pictures of the colorful trees. “I knew we were onto something, and Monday morning I was on the phone with the supplier to order a batch of different colors,” he says. “We’ve been doing it ever since.”

Some people choose a favorite color, or some match a tree to their favorite sports team. “You give the people what they want,” he says.

Advice for Beginners

Wyckoff says he is often asked for advice for those wanting to get into the Christmas tree business. “I always tell them the first thing is to learn what you’re getting into,” he says. 

He recommends joining a state, regional, or national Christmas tree growers association. “That’s the best way to get your feet wet,” he says. “Go to meetings and learn from those who have been there and done that, because it’s an evolving business.”

Another challenge to be aware of is there’s no feasible crop insurance available to Christmas tree growers, as with traditional commodities. That’s especially difficult, Wyckoff says, because a single drought can affect multiple years of harvests, and you won’t necessarily see the effects on your bottom line for years.

“We typically plant extra trees to hedge our bets a bit; then, if we have a bad year, we can hold some over from the previous year or maybe get into next year’s trees a bit early,” he says. “It’s when you have a couple of bad drought years in a row that it gets tough.”

Also, Christmas tree growers need a critical eye. “My father was a very meticulous man,” Wyckoff says. “He really paid attention to detail. You don’t get high-yield corn if you don’t pay attention to detail. You don’t get the best beef if you don’t pay attention to detail. It’s the same with Christmas trees. It’s shearing technique, fertilization, and just making sure everything’s right. Our goal is to put out the best product that we can. I do my best to learn, because there’s always something new coming.”

Christmas With the Wyckoffs

While the Wyckoff family lives and breathes Christmas trees year-round, and they’re especially busy the last quarter of the year, they still enjoy decorating their home for the holidays.

So what kind of tree does Wyckoff choose for his house? “Whatever my wife wants,” he says with a laugh. “This year it’s a 9½-foot Fraser fir. We try to get the tree close to Thanksgiving because if we don’t, it doesn’t get put up until right before Christmas. Once we open on Black Friday, we’re working long hours seven days a week until we run out of trees.”

In addition to self-serve tree cutting, there are three different tree sales sites on the farm, so there are three crews processing trees. “It’s quite an undertaking,” he says. “I call it ‘organized chaos.’” 

Visitors to Wyckoff’s Christmas Tree Farm come for more than just the trees. The Christmas Barn retail store on the property carries wreaths, swags, and other items made from tree trimmings; plus Christmas decorations; gifts; and products from other local farmers.

To learn more, visit wyckoffs.com.