Staff Writer
CARIBOU — People spend hours looking for their perception of the perfect tree, making sure to find one that’s the perfect size, shape, and thickness to sit under their star or angel.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Peter Edgecomb shapes the branches of what he estimates will be a great Christmas tree in the future.
After finalizing the decision, the tree is strapped to the roof of the car and the focus shifts away from it’s natural beauty toward perfecting it’s branches with sparking objects and illuminating bulbs; many overlook the effort that was initially put forth toward making this perfect tree theirs.
Many think that growing Christmas trees is a simple process that involves planting seeds and cutting down trees; conceptually romantic as that may seem, it couldn’t be farther from the actual amount of labor required.
It takes about eight years to grow what is essentially considered a living canvas for tinsel and ornaments; many of the young ones who take so much joy in the decoration and presentation of the tree are younger than the conifer itself.
Peter Edgecomb, Caribou representative in the Maine House of Representatives, started planting the Christmas trees of this holiday season eight years ago.
For the eight years it took for those trees to become as large as they are now, Edgecomb was continuously involved in the process.
“You have to control the grass,” Edgecomb explained, “because if you planted a yousjng tree seedling where the grass is growing, that tree would probably sit there three of four years trying to compete with the grass before it really started to grow.”
In order to keep the grass in check, Edgecomb mows around the trees all summer and occasionally sprays Round Up when it’s needed.
Ants, aphids, and drought are also issues that Edgecomb combats while growing his Balsam Firs. Aphids are only an issue about every four or five years.
Another important aspect of growing Christmas trees is maintaining the fullness and shape that many have come to expect out of their tree.
“The shape doesn’t happen by itself,” Edgecomb said. The process of shaping the tree is called sheering. “Most of the sheering occurs in the month of July when the new growth that comes out, and that’s what gets trimmed,” Edgecomb explained, “if you trim into the old growth, there aren’t any newer buds to sheer; if you take about a third of the new growth off, it will develop more buds and that’s what causes the tree to thicken and fill in nice.”
When sheering the trees, Edgecomb takes into consideration the kinds of trees that people look for.
“Some people think that the top of the tree is really important,” he said, “others want trees that are fairly wide at the bottom; recently people have wanted trees that are taller and thinner because of the amount of room that the tree takes up inside the house.”
Though the majority of Edgecomb’s patrons want big, full, tall Christmas trees, there is still a market for the ‘Charlie Brown Christmas tree.’
“Some people want a more natural looking tree,” he said, “the ‘Charlie Brown Christmas tree’ is what a normal tree would usually grow up to look like without constant maintenance. Before the Christmas trees I grew were big enough to cut, I can remember going out to get a tree with my kids and we always got a ‘Charlie Brown tree,’” Edgecomb added.
Over the years, there’s been a charge regarding the duration of Christmas Trees.
“When I was little growing up, we would just go and cut our own tree from the backyard of our farm,” Edgecomb said, “It would go up the day before Christmas and come down on Christmas day. It used to be that you put the tree on a wooden cross with a spike; we never considered about putting the tree in water and keeping it up for a long time.”
The concept of the two-day tree seems to be sliding more towards the month-and-a-half tree.
“As time goes on, people are coming to get their trees earlier and earlier,” Edgecomb said, “I’ve even sold some trees before Thanksgiving.”
According to Edgecomb, most people generally get their trees between the first two weekends after Thanksgiving.
At one time, Edgecomb would grow as many as 500 trees; this year, he only had about 50 trees that he thought were ready to be sold.
Having taught agriculture for a total of 20 years, 15 of which were at the Limestone High School, Edgecomb seems very comfortable growing and harvesting.
“Gardening and growing Christmas Trees is more of a hobby than a business,” he said.
Edgecomb, as good-hearted as they come, usually finds himself with somewhat of an onion surplus at the end of the growing season from his productive personal garden. For years, he’s brought onions down to Augusta with him and given them out to his co-workers; this has been cause for many in the Maine House of Representatives to come to know this Limestone native as ‘the onion man’.”
