Christmas tree farming: Clarification, and a few more points on shearing. At times clip don’t shear!
Good morning from the flanigan homestead And east fork christmas tree farms uh We’re going to talk a little bit more About shearing I looked up the video i made just a Couple days ago on shearing and I there’s a lot of things that i want to Put in there but some things i think i Want to need to clarify And maybe a couple things to add we did Show you in that video Sharing this noble right here that is About eight feet tall And just to be clear we always share our Grand furs and our dog furs with the Blade All the way up to the top all right 95 99 percent of the time we’ll shear those No matter what height they are And they like that tighter fuller look Uh on the nobles we don’t always do that So i did again i showed you shearing This eight foot tall noble And it makes a nice tight look and some People really prefer that But quite often on the nobles you don’t Want to shear all the way to the Harvestable height You’ll sheer the prior year to sales And then you’ll just clip and so we’re Going to show you that today so a lot of Times you’ll sheer The shape up to five or six feet tall if You want to have a seven foot tree
You’ll sheer that and then the next year Hopefully you won’t shear and then the New growth Hopefully won’t stick out too far but It’ll be a little bit it’ll be a sheer Look with a little bit more open ends And we’ll leave some trees like that and We’re going to show you that on these Trees right next to it today and show You how you might want to do that so I didn’t make that clear i made it sound Like we sheared every tree all the way To the top Every year and so nobles and nordman’s a Lot of times it’s nice to Not share that last year when you think You’re going to harvest them This year we’re probably going to share A lot of taller nobles just because Well you could probably still see it Here we have this is the year of the Record heat And we have a lot of sunburn and brown Needles on the outside so by shearing A little bit more this year and taller Trees this year we’re going to take off Some of that dead that’s on the very Outside so that that’s part of the Process it’s a little bit different Every year but for the most part It’s the same one more thing If you could i’ve had several different Farmers comment Like guys from ireland and the south and
The east and everything i said hey this Is what i’m doing and i have this Matrice I love to hear from different farmers And where you’re from How many trees you’re growing what type Of trees you’re growing you know some of You are talking about trees that i’ve Never Heard of because you’re in a different Area of the country and so If you leave comments of where you’re at I love interacting with Christmas tree farmers guys that are Getting out there doing the work And producing stuff to create a great Holiday season Okay so we’ve showed you how to sheer With a knife and we’ve been doing tops But Some you know again we’re a yukat Christmas tree farm and different people Like different things I’ve i took a blade or a knife to this Tree and showed you how to do it And we broadened this in and it’s a nice Full tree And we’ve got nice straight lines and Some people are going to really prefer This This one we haven’t taken a knife to and It’s not quite as full but some people Are going to enjoy this Instead of taking a knife to it and
Making completely straight edges If we this didn’t have huge growth so we Really don’t need to shear But the growth that’s out here is nice There might be a few Little tips that we want to take off but Just leaving Once it gets to the height that you want To harvest instead of shearing it all Back Like the tree behind me you leave a Little bit longer tips Creates places for hanging heavier Ornaments on Our larger ornaments on and a lot of People like this look I personally like a little bit of space Myself Whereas we sheared this one really tight Some people are going to like that We’re leaving if we leave this open and Just Take a few of the long tips that are Just kind of out of the general design So instead of straight lines like Straight lines like this We got lines with tips slightly out it But keeping that same Angled look okay to clean up this Uh tree that we’re just talking about I’m gonna do it with just the pruners The top whirl has stuff just a little Too far out I’m gonna bring those in just a hair
And i’m going to clean this up this is Growing up and so you don’t want to Leave the cut exposed for the customers To look at so what i’m going to do Uh this little knob here i’m going to Reach back in here I’m going to keep this horizontal branch That’s facing out back And i’m going to slide my pruners in Right above that And cut at an angle so this big bush That’s creating a knot in there is Coming out But we still have the branches pointing Out here And we’ll continue to look for space This one that comes up a little bit Too much or back end these are coming Out as well but we’re leaving these Horizontal branches That are pointing out makes the tree Look good Okay we’re still a little thick here This stuff is growing up here i’m going To grab this knob Back in here What else we got we got this growing Back in you don’t want branches growing Back into the tree We got overlapping there I need just a little bit more out here So i’m gonna Find This feels like it’s taking a lot out
But it leaves A more even space up there Okay one more thing while we’re talking Sharing christmas trees um Obviously you want to try to get number Ones by industry standard as many number Ones as you can But we’re a u-cut christmas tree farm And one of the things that we’ve come to Realize is different people like Different things So we some people want a tall skinny Tree some people want a short fat tree Some people want Branches in every square inch some People want big open spaces And way back when we first started Selling there’s a few trees out in the Field that we thought we’re just gonna Have to cool these out just take a Chainsaw tube cut them down throw them On a fire And we were getting ready to uh hire our Crew to you know Cut out these trees and just throw them On a fire and But we hadn’t done that yet and people Came and bought them I remember one person coming up you know We cut the trees down for our customers And i was cut personally was cutting a Tree and the lady said i I want this tree and she’s pointing it In a direction over here so
I was assuming she met the beautiful Noble that was right behind This little tiny tree that was scraggly And I said so you want this one she goes no I want this one over here and i said oh And she saw the star Look on my face and i was like you know We were going to just Throw that one away i said we’ll give This to you half price No i’m going to pay full price i love my Train So yes you do want to try to get number One by industry standards and get as Many as you can but just realize Different people like different things And if a tree has a natural look That’s a little bit different shape but You know somewhat symmetrical Or you know has something that’s Appealing Grow it uh manicure it to go With that with that look that it has and Uh If you have as many you know if you have Over a thousand people coming out or Whatever Someone’s gonna like it and so just go With it And make it look as good as it can with The type of look that it has And sell it to someone don’t cut it out And throw it on the fire
When looking at the tops of the Christmas tree in the leader And trying to choose where to cut it This tree has many many good buds that We’re happy about When we’ve taken classes years ago from The christmas tree association They always said that the little tiny Knobs Buds as opposed to the ones that were Sticking out wider These little nubs would grow up Straighter That’s how we were taught to be honest We have not Seen evidence that that is actually true I’m not going to say it’s not I’m just telling you the christmas tree Association trainers say This will grow up straighter than this This is straight these would not be But we have not seen evidence in our Field of that So when barry and i are sharing Christmas trees and cutting tops We just find the bud that’s in the right Placement And use that one here’s something i Don’t know if we showed on the previous Shearing video Or not this is a really tall tree almost 10 feet tall We can’t let it grow much taller and There’s no top up here that’s
Any good at all and so they’re grown out So wide the tree knows it needs to get A new start so it’s set some buds i Don’t know if you can see it In here really tight to the uh Trunk of the tree so i’m gonna cut out All the leaders that it has setting out The side they’re really stiff and They’re really wide They’re not gonna work i’m gonna cut Them back to just a couple inches Hard to hold the camera and do this but That’s going to force these buds inside Here to grow and grow straight up And we’re going to get a leader out of That and it’s going to slow down the Growth of this tree Another tool we like to use on the farm Is a hedge trimmer on a stick i do have Another section about a three foot Section i can add to this if i need to Extend it further That’s usually not necessary but this is Really good for Doing these super tall trees we our Nobles don’t get that tall anymore if we Sell them out Sooner than that but our grand firs tend To get that tall So It would be really hard to swing a blade I could swing a blade on a tree really Well up to about nine feet tall i can Reach about eight feet
And then the knife extends up there but Anything taller than that you’re jumping Trying to hit and it’s not very accurate So this is really good I can extend up and cut the tree The other thing is sometimes when They’re getting that tall if you keep That 40 45 degree angle if it started wider And now the tree If it’s 12 feet tall is going to be you Know 10 feet wide And most people can’t put that in their House so you got to start bringing it Back in tightening the angle a little Bit And sometimes you’ll hit last year’s Growth which is now woody And the blade isn’t going to go through That but a motorized hedge trimmer Can get through it this is a beautiful Tool for another reason You can lock it in at different angles So if there’s a bunch of tall trees and You It’s hard to work around i can Change the angle of the tree of the Blade and Work around the tree and get in on it [Music] So [Music] So Wow
[Music] This tool does get very tiresome uh Anybody that’s new on my crew tends to Think hey let me try that Uh that looks fun and then they use it For 15-20 minutes and they say you know what You take this back I’ll swing the knife so it does Allow reach and it does cut through Woody stuff But it takes a little bit of extra oomph To keep it going This type of tree this is a noble is Becoming more and more popular Where it’s not filled in quite so full We’re going to be looking for more Different seed sources that will grow This way And not fertilize quite as fully but This Tree has more open layers between Branches And then instead of shearing just Straight lines we’ll have tips Sticking out here and there and this was More popular when i was growing up And then the sheared fuller nobles Became more popular And these are starting to come back in And so Being a u-cut we need to have a variety We need to have some of these And we need to have some of the sheared
Tight trees as well So once again thanks for joining me on The flanagan homestead where christmas Trees are my business Teaching including horticulture is my Job and outdoor projects are my passion If you would like subscribe Share that’d be great and comments from Other christmas tree farmers are always Appreciated i love Looking at them hope to see you again Soon
