Fraser Firs have become the first choice among our customers for cut trees.

1. Fraser Firs have become the first choice among our customers for cut trees.

2. When we began selling Fraser firs from Cartner Family Farms, nearly 20 years ago, we very nearly had an “exclusive” in our area. Now, customers can get Frasers anywhere, although the trees are from other growers, and the quality does not compare to the Cartner trees. Consequently, many Independent Garden Centers have quit selling cut trees altogether. Let me show you how we have held on to our customers and our market share.

3. First, we start with an equipment operator. This is Claire, one of our best.

4. The Dingo shapes the nursery mulch beds into shallow basins.

5. Mulch basins are about 20’ by 12’ by 10-12” deep.

6. Used polyhouse roofs are folded and laid in. There’s at least 4 layers of 4 or 5 mil plastic.

7. When the trees arrive, they are all freshly butt-cut, and laid up.

8. We get about 150 trees into about 100 linear feet. We flood the basins and the trees start sucking it up. (Nice job, Claire!)

9. We get the trees around mid-November, they’re in the water until Thanksgiving weekend, at which time we start bringing them out for sale.

10. We bring them out 10 or 12 at a time, in each size category. By mid December, all the trees are usually out on display – but those have been in water for at least 3 weeks.

11. We let our customers know why our trees are “special” – in our advertising, Facebook page, and on site.

12. Our holiday sales of Fraser firs have been pretty consistent through the years. We’ve watched families come in, year after year, to get “the freshest cut tree you can possibly get”. Year after year, the consistent quality of the Cartner trees has made the holiday tradition of choosing a cut tree a memorable experience for our customers.

13. Of course, there’s more than one way to make a family’s holiday tradition memorable…