Forestry and Land Scotland trees from the north east are on their way to light up towns and cities across the UK this Christmas as the annual search for the perfect civic centrepiece reaches its peak.
The towering Sitka spruces, grown in Mearns and Durris forest, are heading for places such as Northampton, Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield, Sunderland and communities across the Scottish Borders.
Each tree stands between 30 and 60 feet and has been open grown, giving it space to develop the classic full, symmetrical shape that town squares rely on at this time of year.
FLS Harvesting Supervisor Tommy Murphy said:
“The trees are carefully selected to make sure they will stand up to public scrutiny from all angles.
“We don’t want a scruffy tree as a centrepiece for a town or city.
“The trees are carefully and expertly felled to avoid any damage before being loaded up onto flatbed trucks and heading off on their journeys to take pride of place in squares across the UK.”
All of the trees are sourced from sustainably managed forests that are independently certified and regularly audited for environmental standards.
Tommy said:
“We want to ensure continued sustainable timber production from our forests so that we can keep providing Christmas trees into the future.
“For every tree cut down, more are planted and managed in a way that both produces timber and maintains or enhances a forest’s overall resilience and productivity while also providing good conditions for the rich variety of wildlife that lives there and people that come to enjoy our woodlands.”
While most FLS timber is processed for construction, fencing and other large scale uses, a small proportion becomes part of specialist and unusual projects, from ship masts to replica historical structures.
FLS Niche Marketing and Hardwood Development Manager Douglas Halliday said:
“Along with the Christmas trees we have provided timber for ship masts, a replica iron age canoe and the construction of crannogs.
“Being open and agile to take advantage of opportunities from specialist and niche sales is essential and can lead to establishing new customers and markets.”
