Cornwall farm says trees are for life

Families concerned about festive waste are fostering living Christmas trees which “grow with their children”, a horticulturalist has said.

Kim Parrish, who runs Christmas Tree Hire Cornwall, said people even named the trees they hired for the festivities before returning them to her farm.

Ms Parrish said many people wanted to have the same tree they had hired the previous year as they had become attached to it.

“People want the trees to grow with their families – they like to measure the trees each year against the growth of their children,” she said.

Ms Parrish said she founded the business near Newquay three years ago because she had not been able to find a “truly sustainable tree” herself.

“I wanted a potted tree but found the only ones I could get had been cut and then stuck in a pot and then died,” she said.

“So that January I went out and bought 300 trees in various sizes and potted them up to grow on.”

She said people came to the farm to choose the trees before taking them home with a “care package” to nurture and enjoy over Christmas.

“Generally people are on board because they have made a decision to do something sustainable and want to care for the trees,” Ms Parrish said.

The farm rents out trees in all sizes and they are returned to the farm in January to continue growing.

“Some people have the same tree every year and even name them,” she said.

“I think Christmas tends to be quite disposable and it’s nice to do something that isn’t disposable.”

She said small trees which had been intended for growing were very popular with families who wanted to measure their children growing alongside them.

Gretchen Viehmann from Fowey said her hired Christmas tree named Fleetwood was coming back this year after someone suggested rental to solve an annual family dispute.

She said: “Every year we have an argument because I want a big tree but we don’t want to kill the tree. Then someone overheard us arguing and suggested a real tree rental.

“So we arranged to get a much bigger tree than normal and it was delivered to the house in a trug with a care package and they took it away again in a month.

“We named it Fleetwood because we knew we’d only have it for a little time but we’re getting the same tree again this year.

“He’s already grown another foot and I guess he will keep coming back and keep growing until he hits the ceiling.”