Planting season - Droughts in the south & floods to the north!

We’re gearing up for seedling dispatch here but reports are flooding in (pardon the pun!) that growers along the NSW central and Nth Coast and right up to far north QLD are dealing with insane rainfall and boggy fields. Meanwhile southern NSW, SA, VIC and TAS are roasting in unseasonally warm and dry Autumn weather with record drought in some places. Hopefully these patterns break soon and we see a return to normality. We’ve delayed our usual Autumn dispatches to VIC and SA to early winter and will probably see a pushed back dispatch and planting season across the country, starting next week. Keep an eye out for notifications from us about your pre-orders coming everyone and thanks for the continued feedback on what is happening around the country, we’ll do our best to adapt!

Rest assured we’ve somehow dodged both this year at the nursery, with warm and dry but not droughty conditions - and the 2025 seedling crop is looking great

How do I keep my tree looking good throughout the festive season?

One of the most commonly asked questions the team are asked, is how do I keep my tree looking fresh all festive season?

Whilst us Aussies have created many summer Christmas traditions – replacing the hot roast with a more suitable seafood platter or a BBQ, we have kept the tradition of a tree. There’s something special about having a real tree, the smell, the lights and that no tree is the same – it’s uniquely yours.

Our northern hemisphere counterparts have a much easier time keeping their fresh-cut tree looking fresh, largely due to the fact that trees are in their winter dormancy and experience less shock being cut and displayed. What can we do in our aussie summer to maximise display time?

  • Recut the base of your tree.  Trees are like a giant cut flower, and release sap to cover cut stem. This sap prevents the tree from drinking water, so recutting the base when you get home and placing it immediately into clean water will allow the tree to rehydrate.

    Speaking of rehydrating – your tree will drink a lot of water in the first few hours after being placed in the stand.

  • Top up the water every few days, depending on the volume of your stand.

  • Keep water fresh, your nose will thank you. Stagnant water is a paradise for all sorts of microbial life, your tree wont like it and neither will you. There are many theories on how to keep water fresh, some add bleach, some add sugar – we think fresh clean water works a treat.

  • Don’t display your tree directly in front/below an air conditioner. Keep the cool airflow on you! Remember your tree has come from a warm outdoor environment and may get damaged by cold dehydrating air from your air conditioner.

  • Protect your tree from little people and pets. Don’t spoil the magic of Christmas for little people or pets. Tree sap contains tannins, which can be toxic if consumed – ensure that little people and pets are not able to access the tree stand/ water reservoir – your tree will thank you too, more water for it to drink.

  • Make fresh wounds to the stump below water level. It’s been a couple of weeks and you want your tree to display into the new year, we get it- A full recut of the base is not an option, the tree is decorated and you don’t want to spill water all over the floor. As best you can make an incision into the first few wood layers of the stem (the tip of a small hand saw or Stanley knife cutting away from your body, a few drill holes should do the trick).

A few items we recommend to keep your tree looking the best.

  • A tree stand. Sure, the old bucket and bricks trick will work, but its hard to centre your tree and refill the water.  Whilst a tree stand may cost a little more, it should last for many a year.  There are a few options available on the market, but the all have the same basic principle 3x screw pins to hold the tree and an accessible water reservoir.  And if the green plastic isn’t to your taste, there are now a wide range of tree skirts available at department stores and hardware stores.

  • A hand saw. For a little more than $10 you can pick up a simple hand saw from your local hardware store.

  • A small watering can. Most people will have a small watering can either for their garden or indoor plants. A small watering can makes reaching in under your tree to refill the water easier and less messy than a jug or bucket and is another inexpensive item.

Get your fresh-cut or potted tree for the 2024 festive season!

The spruced team has had a busy start to the 2024 festive season and very much enjoyed seeking some return customers as well as meeting plenty of new faces. The fresh cut Douglas fir has been a fan favourite so far this season.

There are still plenty of opportunities to get a fresh cut or potted tree from one of the market stalls.

  • Shire Farmers Market - Saturday 7th December - 8am - 1pm, Flora Street carpark

  • Bulli Village Market - Sunday 8th December - 9am to 2pm, Buli Showground.

  • Farm Open Day - Sunday 8th December - 9am - 1pm, Yetholme. Make your day a memorable one and book in a Christmas photography session with Maddi Lee’s Photography or refuel whilst you hunt for your tree with a coffee, a cool drink or a yummy treat from Simply Caffeine.

Image: Maddi Lee’s Photography.

Christmas Open Days and Markets at Spruced Xmas Trees

With our high altitude farm west of the blue mountains NSW, we’re Australia’s only grower of many of the world’s favourite xmas tree varieties - American and European firs, spruces and pines! These are some nifty trees - with all different colours, scents and shapes.

We’re opening up our farm on December 1st - come out and pick and cut a tree from our mountain-side, or choose a potted one to take home! If you’re too far away to come out to the farm, we’re bringing our trees to Orange, Mudgee, Sydney and Wollongong farmers markets too - Dates below.

  • Fresh-cut fir and pine xmas trees - cut and carry or wave down our friendly tractor driver for a treelivery to your car

  • Potted xmas trees

  • Walk-in Photography sessions amongst the trees with Maddi Lees Photography @https://www.instagram.com/maddileesphotography/

Road trip to Brisbane and back with our trees

We took some of our trees on road trip to Brisbane this week! dropped In to the NGIQ (Nursery & Garden Industry Queensland) trade day for a dose of QLD sun and then on to some of our partners In Brisbane and the NSW Central Coast. Some even found their way out to the Bay islands by Ferry with Martin from Canaipa Nursery - (hoping for a pic of that!)

We’re also pleased to annouce that Fairy Tale Lane in Morpeth NSW are stocking our real potted and fresh-cut Christmas trees https://fairytalelane.ie/

Big season ahead - Christmas 2024 xmas trees around Australia

Gearing up for a big Christmas season at the farm - and for every tree cut we're planting 2 more. This year we have trees going all over Australia from Brisbane to Melbourne and a dozen places in between! Get your Christmas direct tree from us at a market or the farm https://www.spruced.net.au/ , or get one from these top knotch suppliers we've partnered with near you:

- Aussie Christmas Trees - Manly, NSW https://www.aussiechristmastrees.com.au/

- Dural Christmas Tree Farm - Dural, NSW Dural Christmas Tree Farm

- Rockpine Christmas Trees - Rossmore, NSW https://www.rockpine.com.au/

- Merlino's Christmas Trees - Five Dock, NSW https://www.facebook.com/MerlinoChristmasTrees

- Collaroy Cougars Rugby Club fundraiser - Collaroy, NSW https://www.facebook.com/collaroyrugby

- Welby Garden Centre, Southern Highlands NSW https://welbygardencentre.com.au/

- Sequoia Valley Farms -Southern Highlands and delivery around NSW - https://sequoiavalleyfarms.com.au/

- Real Christmas Trees - Brisbane, QLD - https://www.realchristmastrees.com.au/

- Raleigh Christmas Trees, North Coast NSW - Raleigh Christmas Trees

- Potted Pines - Albury, NSW - https://www.facebook.com/PottedPines

- Real Christmas Trees - Melbourne, VIC - https://realchristmastrees.melbourne/

- Potted Pine Christmas Trees - Newcastle, NSW https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088306310380


2024 Seed harvesting complete - big haul!

Good seed harvest this year with another shed full of fresh seed - we're now sourcing most of our seed from around Australia! Surprising how many interesting varieties there are in backyards, botanic gardens, parks, etc. Only catch is they're usually 20-30m up at the top of the tree. We need a trained monkey/cockatoo!

December Markets and Open Days

This December, we are once again making an appearance at Shire Farmers Markets. We will have a selection of fresh cut and potted trees available.

Shire Farmers Markets are held from 8 am to 1 pm, in the flora street carpark. For more information about Shire Farmers market, check out the website or social media pages.

You can also come and visit us, at our farm open days. Come and select the perfect tree for your Christmas.

Yetholme is about a 2.5 hour drive from Sydney, based between Lithgow and Bathurst. Plan a day out with family and friends pick out a tree and explore what our region has to offer.

For more information about tourism in our region, check out https://www.bathurstregion.com.au and https://lithgow-tourism.com/

Can’t wait to see you all at our markets and open days.

Melbourne stockist for our Christmas trees organised

After many years and loads of enquiries out of Melbourne for our trees, we’re delighted to announce Real Christmas trees Melbourne will now be stocking 3 of our Christmas tree varieties: Douglas fir, Blue spruce and Norway spruce!

They will be delivering these all over Melbourne and surrounds in December, so reach out to them to secure your tree. Here is a link to their website to pre-order: https://realchristmastrees.melbourne/

New locations to find our trees this December

New locations and stockists added all over Australia! We're excited to be working with so many great partners to help get all our unique range of trees out far and wide

Sydney, Illawarra, Southern Highlands:

- Sequoia Valley Farms is delivering some of our range as well as their own unique trees to greater Sydney, Illawarra and the Southern highlands (see their range map below)

- Come find us at Sutherland Shire Farmers' Market on Saturday Dec 2nd and 9th

- Dural Christmas Tree Farm is featuring some of our rarer potted and fresh cut fir and spruce varieties on top of their own beautiful Radiata pine Shaped trees

Brisbane:

Real Christmas Trees will have our potted and fresh cut trees available from late November!

Mudgee:

We'll have a stall at the Mudgee Farmers' Market November 25th

Dubbo:

Saddler and Co will feature a Christmas themed store and are taking pre-orders on a Christmas tree drop from us in early December

Bathurst/Orange/Oberon/Lithgow/Blue Mountains:

Come and get a tree from us directly on our open days Sunday Dec 3rd and Sunday Dec 10th at our Yetholme farm (15 Macabees Road Yetholme

Melbourne:

We're working on it! New post with details soon

Roots grow first

There's a lot happening underground even if it seems that not much is going on up top! Here is a 2.5yr old Noble Fir freshly pulled from the seed bed… Sometimes conifers just creep along for a few years - under the surface they’re growing this. Once established they suddenly take off