O Christmas Tree In Woodbury

If you’re looking to get a top tree this Christmas season, try the Frasier fir.

“It is the Cadillac, for a lot of reasons,” said Clint Wolcyn, whose family owns a Christmas tree farm in Cambridge and has sold them in a lot at Woodbury’s for the past two seasons.

“The big thing is needle retention—it’s going to hold its needles until July,” he said.

The lot offers four types of trees: balsam, Canaan and Frasier firs, and the white pine. (Some lots sell Scotch pine trees, but Wolcyn cautioned people not to buy them because their needles fall off quickly.)

The balsam and Frasier firs are the most popular, but the latter is a bit more costly at $10 to $11 per foot, Wolcyn said. The Canaan is a tree that only came on the market in the past decade, he said, and is a bridge between the balsam and Frasier.

Frasier firs are known for their color, smell and durability, though they are difficult to grow. “It’s a delicate process,” Wolcyn said.

For those wondering about keeping their tree looking good through the season, Wolcyn said regular tap water in the tree stand is fine. He said he has heard of people using 7UP or salt-water solutions, but they aren’t necessary.

“You don’t need to overthink it,” said Wolcyn.

What people should do is get the tree cut when they buy it and get it into water within a few hours. Though dead, it will continue to draw water, he said.

That won’t be a concern for Woodbury resident Sandy Swanson, who was at the lot on Tuesday to buy wreaths.

She has allergies that prevent her family from having a real tree. “It’s something to do with mold,” Swanson said.

Instead, the Swansons will have a 12-foot fake tree this year. But having greens outside her door is fine, and she made sure to pick up a wreath for her son and daughter-in-law while she was there.

“I love to give,” Swanson said. “It’s true that giving is better than receiving.”

Among those who have received Wolcyn Christmas trees in the past: former Timberwolves star Kevin Garnett and lawmakers at the state Capitol, Wolcyn said.

Growing up, the Wolcyn family had two or three trees in their log home during Christmas. But he and his three brothers were usually pretty tired of them when it came time to trim the tree.

Still, for all his knowledge of Christmas trees, Wolcyn said he can’t point people in the right direction.

“It’s really personal preference,” he said.

But he suggests people leave on the “leader,” the very top branch of the tree that sticks straight up.

“The tip makes the tree,” Wolcyn said. “Sometimes people will ask us to cut it off for a star or whatever, which breaks my heart.”