Experimenting with early season Christmas tree shearing. Things to be careful about.

Here at East Fork Christmas tree farm we are going to experiment with shearing our trees a month earlier than normal. In the Pacific Northwest Christmas tree farmers normally start the shearing process after the 4th of July and continue into August until done. In this video I am going to shape just a few Noble firs and Grand firs in mid June. We are doing this in hopes of getting two benefits. One is to get the shearing knife through the limbs easily. The other is we will cut an straight line but the branches will grow just a hair more and at inconsistent paces. This will allow the tree to keep its shape but look a little more natural. We will not tie the tops up straight at this time as the continued growth will create an unwanted bend. ‪@FlanaganHomestead‬

[@nickmillerhello]

Hey there my friend, so glad I found this video where you clearly explain the exact blade you are using😅 I tried to look on the Brush King website for an 18 inch serrated blade with 18 inch handle but I the biggest option they have is the 16 inch blade with the 18 inch handle, do you think this will be comprable? Thanks so much for all of your advice, tips, and wisdom my friend!🙏🎄💖

[@FlanaganHomestead]

That is what I am using. I misspoke by two inches on the blade.

[@nickmillerhello]

@@FlanaganHomestead okay perfect much appreciated my friend, is there a reason why I should get a longer handle as opposed to a shorter one? Longer reach?

[@FlanaganHomestead]

@@nickmillerhello you guessed right. Longer reach gets to the top of taller trees. Frustrating when you are a foot short.

[@nickmillerhello]

@@FlanaganHomestead that is much appreciated and great to know, thanks so much because I almost bought the 14 inch handle and I think i would have been disappointed. I am brand new to this tool as I usually have used the electronic device, but I am a huge fan of working with a scythe compared to a mower and this reminds of that in an analogy comparison😅🙏💙🎄

[@buckstopcrew9819]

Your ground looks great. Is that just from walking and spraying?

[@FlanaganHomestead]

We have a boom sprayer we put on the back of a quad. The boom was too wide for my trees so we angled them in. Then pointed the nozzle out. I purposely bought the Honda rancher 360 quad. Small enough to get through tree bu just big enough to hold a 30 gallon sprayer. I did a video on the herbicide spraying a couple months ago if you want to see the process

[@buckstopcrew9819]

@@FlanaganHomestead thank for getting back to me. Love your videos

[@tomsampson8084]

Never use ties, use masking tape. I don't know why you guys use sticks. In my day we just took the two strongest leaders and cut one a little shorter than the other then taped them together with masking tape. The tape has a bit of give and will just rot away after a year or two.

[@FlanaganHomestead]

Like the masking idea. On our nobles we quite often don’t have an opposing leader that would work accordingly. Doug’s and grands we could probably do that.

[@johanwedelnielsen]

Make an Update video on the results An experiment video needs a results video follow up 😊

[@ruralridez6165]

have you ever tried to transplant your trimmings?

[@danahasson2892]

It'll be interesting to see how the experiment works out!

[@mattmacc]

Hope the early shearing works ... I've learned a lot from your youtube channel and am now planning to build a small-scale Christmas tree farm. Thanks for the knowledge and inspiration. I'm looking for a source for 100 small Nordmann fir plugs -- they are tough to find. (a popular Christmas tree in europe). This for a winter planting in southern Illinois using the cordless drill and old drill bit technique kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXOZZ2mwhNqjnqs. The ground rarely freezes so a December or January direct-from-the-greenhouse is ok. This may be the first time anyone's tried this in southern Illinois. I expect to cage, irrigate, mulch, and spray as needed.

[@FlanaganHomestead]

Thanks for watching and kind words. Noordman are becoming very popular here in the Pacific Northwest. We have a hard time getting our hands on seedlings of any kind. The nurseries out here won’t do plug Noordman because they are so slow growing at the start. They don’t want to give up nursery space for an extra year or two.

[@75mrmr58]

What is the plant type?

[@FlanaganHomestead]

Noble fir

[@75mrmr58]

@@FlanaganHomestead Thank you