The six-year process to grow the perfect real Christmas tree

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It is no secret the cost of living is biting up and down the economy, and as the festive season approaches the crunch has begun to be felt even in the Christmas tree sales.

Transcript

00:00Good old Pinus radiata shines but once a year.

00:07Slap a star on top and it's transformed from conifer to Christmas icon.

00:12But choosing the tree is a tricky business.

00:16Just like choosing what to put on it.

00:18Waity Pie, would you like to choose one of these for your tree?

00:23Oh my goodness, can you choose one for Nana?

00:25A good Christmas tree.

00:26It's nicely shaped.

00:28The triangle shape, nice and tall, a little bit larger than me.

00:32And then we always like it when there's like no gaps or anything.

00:36But getting the trees in shape and ready for sale takes years.

00:40After two and a half years we start pruning them twice a year with a big slashing knife.

00:45It's a cross between a samurai sword and a machete and we cut the tips off the trees

00:50to thicken them up.

00:51This is six and a half years old, this plantation here.

00:54And as with other farming, the trees are at the mercy of the weather and the economy.

01:00Ziggy Comanek says last year the growing conditions were terrible and he sold out.

01:06This year the weather was great but sales are down.

01:09This year has been slow.

01:11I think people are really feeling the pinch and we're about 1,000-1,500 trees less than

01:16last year at this point.

01:18An Australian Christmas might not have the snow or the warming Yulog fire like the Northern

01:24Hemisphere but at least we've got the right sort of trees so that Father Christmas can

01:30make no mistake, he's in the right place for that special delivery.

01:35You know what you want for Christmas?

01:37Barbie Dreamhouse.

01:39Barbie Dreamhouse.

01:41Meanwhile at the Christmas tree farm, the work goes on.

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