It’s impossible not to hum “Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,” that famously upbeat festive carol extolling the virtues of the Yuletide conifer after my conversation with Michelle and Simon Brown.

The couple, who with their three children Jack (18), Rachel (16), and Rory (13) run Ballyogan Christmas Trees in Co Kilkenny, are in the throes of harvest and will open their doors on 29 November. It allows families to ‘choose and cut’ their own tree among thousands planted on 6ac with scenic views of the Blackstairs and Mount Brandon as a backdrop.

“Neighbours had always been coming to get a tree [for years], but during COVID, a friend of ours said: ‘Why don’t you do ‘choose and cut’ and we opened in 2020,” Michelle explains.

While the family have been growing Christmas trees for more than 20 years on 50ac in total, the trees went to the wholesale market and garden centres with some exported. Now, the ‘choose and cut’ element brings a different dimension with the whole family playing their part – the boys help collect and net the trees, while Rachel serves homemade cookies and hot chocolate.

“People can spend hours or 10 minutes picking the tree they want to and it’s such a novelty for the kids to see it being cut down [by Simon and his chainsaw],” she says.

But are real Christmas trees as popular as they once were? A definitive “yes” from Michelle, who says there is an “unbelievable” demand for the real thing over the artificial trees.

“I think things changed around COVID. A lot of people went back to the real tree at that point,” Michelle maintains. “There’s a lot to be said about having the smell of a real Christmas tree in the house.

“For us, there is a real tradition with families getting the tree. When we started, we had couples come, and then a year of two later, there would be a bump, and the following year, a baby.

“People are saying to us this is our family tradition – you guys can’t stop doing this,“ she says, smiling broadly. “When my kids were young, we’d go out with Simon and wander through the fields picking our tree, but that was our tradition because we were growing them. It’s nice to be able to give that [experience] to other families,” continues Michelle.

At that point, Simon, just in from the fields joins the conversation. He jokes that it’s “fairly busy” and can get “a bit frantic” at this time of year. After buying the farm in 1998, he planted his first trees a year later in a bid to diversify, having seen his uncle grow Christmas trees.

“Since then, we’ve been growing trees and once you’re in a cycle you have to try and keep with that or you lose your market. You have to build your market and hold it, which is what we have been doing,” he explains.

“There are well over 100,000 trees in the ground now of various different ages. Every year, we plant trees and cut trees. Not all of the trees make it, it’s like a herd of cattle or sheep, you have stragglers that don’t thrive.”

Climate change

Climate change is definitely having an effect now too, Simon tells Irish Country Living, in relation to the types of trees they can grow. Nordmann and noble fir were their most widely grown Christmas trees. However, the prolonged, heavy, wet winters are proving a problem.

“We’re losing too many [noble fir], which never used to happen, but we are definitely noticing it in the last 10 years,” he observes, a development that means they have cut the numbers of noble firs they are planting.

They opted to try some new varieties like Frasier fir and Korean fir as an experiment to see how they fared.

“They are very different, and because of that, people are a little cautious about taking too many,” he says, adding that the experiment has been successful and interesting in one way, in that they know what they can and cannot grow.

However, having so many different varieties means a lot of different work at various times of the year in an already “labour intensive business”.

“When we plant them, they are called 2-plus-1s, so they have already been in the ground for three years. Then they’re in the ground for a further six years before you get a small harvest,” he says. “A six-year-old tree would be five to six ft,” Michelle interjects, “and the main age to harvest would be from six to 10 years old.

“When you put that tree in the field, you know it’s in there for 10 years, so when you’re coming out of that field, it makes you 10 years older,” Simon jokes, before the pair burst into laughter.

For him, the biggest challenge is to keep the quality right, followed by labour, because May and June are their busiest times shaping and pruning the trees before a short, intense harvest in November.

“People think when you put a tree in the ground that it just grows in that shape, but they don’t. You have to nurse that tree into the shape and quality that you want.”

Labour intensive

While a machine provides some assistance, it is still primarily “hand labour” to finish everything off. “It’s massively labour intensive. It’s a crazy thing to be involved in,” Simon quips, and that’s without talking about the many other things that can go wrong with trees.

The family combine growing with 300 pedigree ewes, a mixture of Charollais, Klines, Texels and 80 Shropshires, which have been bred to graze among the trees, keeping the weeds down – but without eating them.

“You basically have two crops off 1ac, and we have a nice cover under the trees of grass, clover and a mixed-species sward for the Shropshires,” explains Simon, who also sells pedigree rams.

Similar to other types of farming, the age profile of Christmas tree growers is getting higher and higher, and a lot of young people are not attracted to it. How to change that, he’s not sure, as to quite a degree the sector is influenced by the European market. Some of their trees go to France and Holland.

At the same time, Simon believes there is a future in Christmas trees as more and more people are environmentally conscious and attracted to the sustainable nature of a Christmas tree as opposed to a “plastic tree made from oil coming from China”. Generally, the 7ft tree is the most popular, but they also sell trees 15ft and up to customers.

The couple both agree opening up to the public over the weekends in the run-up to Christmas has given a “feel good factor” to the business. “Everybody is happy,” Michelle says, while Simon says it’s a “nice relaxed atmosphere after all the madness and chaos. We feed off the enthusiasm, and it is actually really enjoyable,” he adds.

Memorable stories

There have been so many memorable stories over the years, none more so than the couple in the campervan who found a robin had travelled in their tree halfway to Waterford.

Michelle reminds readers that when you get your tree, ensure it is watered daily and in a water stand. “A tree can drink up to a litre of water a day. Position it in a cool spot, not beside a radiator or stove. The more you look after it, the longer it will last,” she advises.

When all the madness is over and the last customer leaves on Christmas Eve, how do the couple celebrate? Simon smiles broadly before joking that they have a “glass of wine and fall into a coma”.

See ballyogan_christmas_trees on Instagram and Facebook.

Meath magic

In Kilmainhamwood, Co Meath, G’N’R Christmas Trees & Café offers a community-centred take on the festive season. Rather than a sprawling farm, it’s a charming patch where visitors can pick out their Christmas tree and enjoy a warm drink from the coffee box, set outside the old station house. The space transforms with the seasons – known for its vibrant pumpkin patch at Halloween before shifting into a festive wonderland come December. Positioned along the Boyne Valley to Lakelands Greenway, it also welcomes walkers and cyclists.

Top Tyrone trees

The roots of Finnegan Christmas Trees began in 1992. Through the years the family business has expanded to more than 75,000 trees on their farm, close to Clogher in Co Tyrone.

Customers are welcome to make an appointment to pick their own tree, roaming through the plantation to find the perfect one. Once you’ve made your choice, staff will cut and wrap the tree so you can bring it home and decorate it in baubles and glitter.

Mountain views

Located in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, Killakee Christmas Tree Farm is the perfect place to take a festive walk in the forest and get into the spirit of the season.

Visiting the family farm has become a treasured tradition for so many people who enjoy the amazing views of the capital while wandering through the trees at various stages of growth.

When you find the perfect one, you attach your tag before shouting ‘Timber’, the signal for staff to cut your tree down. They wrap it and even help you get it on your car roof.