Environmental concern has prompted many people to use artificial Christmas trees, balled and burlapped trees that can be replanted or cut-your-own trees, ensuring that only trees that are needed will be taken. But septuagenarian brothers Dick and Pat Raleigh farm trees just like Illinois farmers manage corn or soybeans, so the brothers are not out hacking away at the North Woods. They have been bringing their crop from northern Wisconsin to Grayslake for 14 years. They can be seen again this year, setting up shop around Thanksgiving at Leider’s Garden Greenery, 34755 U.S. Highway 83, Grayslake. Dick took a moment to talk about the business.
Q. How and when did you get started in the Christmas tree business?
A. I’ve been cutting trees for 60 years. I cut my first tree with my dad when I was 13. Back in 1937, they were just wild trees then. Now we plant them, fertilize them, etc. We grow strictly balsam and are starting to grow Fraser fir. I don’t handle many pine trees; and the ones I do, I buy.
Q. How many trees do you grow each year for Christmas, and how many do you cut to sell?
A. We harvest 6,000 to 10,000 per year, depending on the weather. If we get a frost during the growth period, it damages the trees and we can’t sell them. We’ve been trying to get a tree that buds out later in the spring. It’s the dew frosts that hurt us, but we haven’t had one in three years now.
Q. How long does it take for a tree to reach full maturity?
A. We plant the seeds in the nursery in the fall. It’s in the seed bed for two to three years, then we transplant it in the field for another few years. We try to have them ready in 8 to 10 years after they’re planted in the fields. We probably have about 125,000 to 150,000 trees growing on 140 acres, roughly 1,000 trees to an acre. Not all of them will make Christmas trees. We get deer damage, frost damage. We have an irrigation system to water our seedbeds in the nursery. We gather our own seed in August and go through the whole process from there.
Q. Generally, how many trees do you have left over after Christmas?
A. We try not to have very many! Some years we have 5 percent of what we bring down to the lot to sell. I consider it a successful year if we have less than 10 percent left over. One year we sold down to three trees.
Q. What do you do with the unwanted trees?
A. I generally bring them back home.
Q. Do you have any suggestions for environmentally conscious tree disposal, whether for a tree dealer with leftovers or a consumer who is finished with his or her tree?
A. Most towns have a special day when you put your tree out and they pick them up for you. They haul the trees away and mulch them. Some landscapers will tell you to bring them your tree when you’re done and they mulch it for you.
