(Photo: courtesy of fotopedia)
The numbers are so varied because Georgia’s climate is too mild for the most popular tree called a Fraser Fir.
UGA horticulturalist Mark Czarnota says Christmas tree farms here typically sell the Leyland Cyprus or Virginia Pine and most people want a Fraser.
“Its smell and the shape and the color of the needles and the tree itself just make it really appealing to consumers.”
Czarnota is using a grant from the USDA to deliver another option. Right now he’s grafting Fraser’s onto a Japanese tree called a Momi Fir that’s more tolerant of Georgia’s climate. Czarnota says the next step is to plant hundreds of seedlings and see how they do over time.
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