Christmas Trees

In the 1800’s the Christmas tree was introduced in the United States by German settlers. It rapidly grew from tabletop size to floor-to-ceiling. Most other early accounts in the United States were among the German settlers in eastern Pennsylvania. In 1851 trees were taken randomly from the forests and sold commercially. In 1853 Franklin Pierce brought the first Christmas Tree to the White House. In the late 1800’s the first glass ornaments were introduced into the United States, again from Germany. The first ones were mostly balls, but later chains of balls, toys and figures became more common.

In 1901 the first Christmas Tree farm was started when W.V. McGalliard planted 25,000 Norway spruce on his farm in New Jersey. Also in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt tried to stop the practice of having Christmas Trees out of concern about the destruction of forests. His two sons didn’t agree and enlisted the help of conservationist Gifford Pinchot to persuade the president that, done properly, the practice was not harmful to the forests.

Today – Approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees are sold each year in the United States. Almost all of these come from Christmas tree farms.

The fresh cut Christmas trees at Dan Schantz Greenhouse are Pennsylvania grown and come in all sizes from 3 ft to 13 ft. Plus we wrap, drill and load into your car for free. And we have live, balled and burlaped trees for a living reminder of Christmas. Here are the fresh cut varieties that we carry:

Balsam - A fragrant dark green tree with short, flat, long-lasting needles it has large open spaces to provide room for ornaments. It has a pyramid shape and holds its needles well. It is named for the balsam or resin found in the blisters on the bark that was used to treat wounds in the Civil War.

Canaan Fir - Short, soft needles that are medium to dark green with dense branches

Concolor Fir - Also know as White Fir it has small, narrow needles blue-green in color that are 1/2 to 1-1/2 inches long. The fir has a nice shape with good needle retention and a pleasing aroma with a citrus scent.

Douglas Fir - Short, soft, shiny blue-green needles with a sweet scent when crushed. Excellent needle retention and fairly dense branches.

Fraser Fir - Silvery, dark green needles, 1/2 to 1 inch long with excellent needle retention. Firm branches with a nice scent.

Scotch Pine - Scotch pine tree has stiff branches with dark green to bluish-green needles 1 to 3 inches long. The aroma is long-lasting and lingers through the entire season. Scotch pine does not drop needles when dry - excellent retention. Scots pine was imported from Europe and is not native to America.

White Pine - The largest pine in the US, it retains needles throughout the holiday season but has little or no fragrance and not a good tree for heavy ornaments. Its needles are long, soft and blue-green. The tree is sought by people who suffer from allergic reactions to more fragrant trees.

Artificial Christmas Trees

At Dan Schantz Greenhouse we also carry a big selection of Artificial Christmas Trees from 4 ft to 12 ft.

These days artificial trees are unbelievably realistic and have hinged branches so you do not need to assemble the tree. Plus pre-lit trees keep you from having to untangle strings of lights.

We have plain or flocked trees, pre-lit with clear or mulit lights or unlit, full or slim. If you are allergic to pine trees, are tired of cleaning up pine needles and don’t want to worry about watering a tree then maybe an artificial tree is for you! If you want the pine tree smell grab a can of pine scent also available in our stores.