Kentucky Christmas tree farm's Fraser firs thrive

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Halloween decor may still be hanging, and trick-or-treaters scattered throughout Lexington, but at Tom Nieman's tree farm, it's always Christmas.

"I like to see happy people, and if I can make someone's life happier with a tree, that suits me just fine," said the longtime Christmas tree farmer and owner of Tom Nieman's Christmas Tree Farm.

Nieman has been growing Fraser firs on his farm for decades, but it wasn't always easy. The species is not native to Kentucky, and Nieman had to learn a lot about trial and error to get them to grow.

"We would get in a thousand trees, and if I had a hundred left, I would be happy because we were losing so many, we just couldn’t make them grow, and we kept working at it, working at it," Nieman said.

Nieman eventually learned that the key to growing Fraser firs in Kentucky is a combination of science, soil, seedlings from Seattle, and above all, rain.

"I promised myself a long time ago that I would never complain about having too much rain ever again, and I haven't," Nieman laughed.

Droughts can be devastating for Nieman's Christmas tree farm. This summer, Nieman had to water his trees with thousands of gallons of water to keep them alive.

"The little ones, if they’re not in the right environment to begin with, the right soil, they can’t maintain themselves," Nieman said.

Lexington was a month's worth of rain behind schedule for the fall season until this weekend. The recent rain saved Nieman thousands of gallons of water and future Christmas trees.

Only 19 Fraser firs out of 1,000 have died so far this year, thanks to the recent rain. While it may be Halloween, any rainy day might as well be Christmas for the Lexington Christmas tree farm.

Nieman's Christmas Tree Farm is open for pre-tagging now.