LJN Blog Posts

I love the new Tate installation -Tate Britain Unveils Naked Christmas Tree.

Whilst to many involved within the horticultural and landscaping industries it could be viewed with a sneer and as with so much new art in the UK it will and needs to gain criticism. I personally feel that it celebrates the conical shape of the classic Christmas tree in its own beauty.

The symbolism of the Christmas tree is not an ancient symbol for Yule or even for Christianity, There is lore that St Boniface cut down an ancient Oak symbolising pre Christian religion, in the 8th century and left a fir tree which was growing from the basal area - thus declaring the fir tree to be a Christian symbol. But in real terms the modern Christmas tree dates back only as far as the 15th century in the Baltic states.

One ongoing factor with regards the Christmas tree is that it is still very much separated from the relatively modern phenomena of symbolism and emphasis onto the natural world in a completely non religious sense, and that the tree is considerably better known as a Christmas image more so than nativity or religious symbolism for Christmas. Perhaps there is a subtle or subconscious mind set that the symbol of the evergreen tree harks back to our more primitive feelings and the need to celebrate the midwinter as in the case of mistletoe, holly and ivy and as such is simply a modern commercialism of this inexplicable desire to celebrate midwinter using available green foliage? Even if this is the case why does the classic Christmas tree still habitually fail to excite during the rest of the year?

Evergreen conical trees remain largely unfashionable in landscape and garden design in the UK and conifer forests suffer from a lower public usage and lower landscape value than our native broadleaved or Scots Pine forests and woodlands. There are very practical reasons for this; these Forest trees are relatively short lived, require high maintenance and extract more than their fair share of existing nutrients from a soil, which they can quickly alter to a state unfavourable for other plants or gardening requirements. The fashion for what were termed 'environmentally friendly' or 'green' Christmas trees as they were sold with roots for replanting is generally dissuaded by any professional in land industry due to the problems these trees have within an urban or rural garden environment. And there remains a backlog of maturing Norway Spruce in suburban environments which are nothing more than a pest for the soil and surrounding infrastructure and this in turn leads to a lesser opinion of these magnificent trees.

The Norway Spruce in its natural environment is beautiful within the classic North Eastern European landscape, which can only be matched in suburban or urban UK by way of larger commercial landscaping, where the trees can be grouped.

The rising fashion for needle fast trees has resulted in a huge increase of Noble and Nordmann Firs which are trees that could stand alone as an aesthetic tree for landscaping purposes, but again suffer from being inferior to many other ornamental conifers, which are in turn also becoming increasingly unfavourable due to the unsuitable root plates and soil dependency for garden planting. Many conifer tree forms can appeal for both the urban / suburban garden landscape and for the once only appearance in a house for Christmas, but due to the popularity of having a Christmas tree, if this were encouraged the UK landscape and soils would change dramatically and quickly for the worse.

The industry has many well established players who have developed the business as a profitable by product of the forest industry itself. Many Christmas trees were actually nurse trees for commercial timber plantations or indeed for broadleaved new planting on large scale rural schemes during the height of the Woodland Grant Scheme. This is a more sustainable attribute, (let down by the transportation carbon footprint), and often the large town and city centre Christmas trees will have been trees removed for additional purpose. In 2002 Falmouth, Truro and Camborne purchased several large Christmas trees that had been removed as part of a habitat creation scheme for Ospreys in Scotland - ecologically friendly but unfortunately the carbon footprint was just too high.

The Danish governments decision to stop tax incentives for Christmas Tree plantations, (Denmark was one of the largest European producers) allowed many more hectares of previously arable agricultural land to become financially viable for Christmas tree plantations across EU member states. Large scale Christmas tree plantations are not very sustainable, (although slighter better environments and ecologically more stable than modern agriculture), the land used is often poor quality and has to be dosed heavily with fertiliser and ongoing chemical treatments. Following annual cutting for the Christmas market, transport distances are phenomenal and many of the trees in the UK will have travelled far.

To conclude, whilst an individual Christmas tree should and can be viewed as a magnificent tree in its own right, the UK cannot support them within both the garden or country landscape, large scale production is unsustainable and using trees felled for a purpose often dictates a hefty carbon footprint - what is the solution?

With the ongoing schemes and initiatives, (of which the Big Tree Plant is only one of many) for community and local tree planting - surely it is sensible to add suitable coniferous nurses amongst the new plantations. At the right age they can be removed to help supplement the appetite for Christmas trees and provide a local sustainable source. The chosen conifers can be more suitable for local conditions - Pines in the west etc., which still make excellent Christmas trees and will provide more localised work for practitioners by way of ensuring the form is maintained for the trees eventual sacrifice for Christmas. Include all necessary windbreaks and trees for purpose across the UK and the Christmas tree becomes a double asset and one that can help to manage the landscape in sustainable terms. Surely also it will help establish the Christmas tree as ongoing symbol of the protection and nurturing of our landscape as a whole and as such enjoy further earned praise in its own right during the Christmas period.