The trees at the top

 

 

For more than 40 years Andrew Ingram has been supplying Great Britain with his awardwinning trees from his farm at Christmas Common. He was the first grower in the UK to produce the ‘tree du jour’ – the Lasio Carpa. This blue-tinged fir is a native of Arizona so likes drier conditions. Andrew has responded to customer demand to supply a ‘blue’ tree. In the past, a blue Spruce has been used but these tend to be difficult to handle as they are sharp and spikey and do not have a traditional smell. 

 

“The Lasio Carpa holds its needles longer and it is much softer and kinder to handle,” said Andrew. “It seems to like growing here, but we were the only ones in the country growing this – it’s a different look, a blue rather than a green tree.” It is no wonder that Andrew and his experienced team are able to live up to a challenge as their horticultural expertise has been recognised on several occasions. The British Christmas Tree Growers Association holds an annual competition for the best tree – the prize being the honour of supplying the tree to 10 Downing Street. Andrew’s Tree Farm is only one of two growers in the country to have won this honour more than once. They have won three times.

 

Regular customers demanding Andrew’s trees include many of the Oxford Colleges and some of London’s best hotels including the Savoy, the Ritz and the Grosvenor. Last year Tree Farm was updated with the introduction of an extra car park to make the customer’s tree buying experience that much easier. And Andrew also used a new team of contractors to work on the trees during the summer. However Andrew’s team of regular tree ‘elves’ are always on hand to help in any way they can.

 

“One of them has been coming every year for 15 years, they are lovely guys,” said Andrew who is the current chairman of the Henley and District Agricultural Association.

 

“Most of British Agriculture relies on foreign workers. They work very good hours, are reliable and very sober. And I am a farmer, I don’t get any support from the government, we are subsidy-free here.”

 

In terms of competition from the artificial tree market, Andrew is confident that the public is becoming aware of the detrimental environmental impact of the plastic-based trees. “And a surprising number of people come here who became bored of their fake tree, with no smell. Once you have had a real tree it is very hard not to go for real again,” said Andrew. “Remember we have 120,000 trees on this farm at any one time, and for every tree we cut down, we plant at least one more. That is a positive impact on our environment.”