Oh Christmas tree from Inverleigh

THERE’S a festive feel to Robyn and Greg Erwin’s Inverleigh paddocks.

They own and run Inverleigh’s Christmas Tree Farm, and although it’s just a “little hobby,” things can get busy around this time of year with visitors selecting the perfect seasonal centrepiece from the hundreds of radiata pine trees on site.

“We plant about 300 each year but probably only fifty percent will be sellable,” Ms Erwin said.

She said it all started about 10 years ago when Mr Erwin grew “a few” Christmas trees with their children.

“Greg and the kids put in about 100 in the first year. It was a bit of an experiment,” Ms Erwin said.

Since then, growing young radiata pine trees has become part of life for the family.

Ms Erwin said they plant about 300 new young pines each year, and it takes about four years for the little trees to grow to perfect Christmas tree size.

“Now the locals know we’re here and they come back every year,” she said.

“They bring their kids or grandkids. It’s so much fun.”

The trees are available in three different sizes – small, medium and large – with those keen to secure one invited to use a measuring pole to ensure they get the height they’re after.

Ms Erwin said it’s always wise to measure the room in which you plan to put your Christmas tree in first.

“They always look smaller in the paddock than they will once you put them inside,” she said.

“We like people to send a photo of their trees once they’ve decorated them.

“Some people will share them to our Facebook page and absolutely every tree is different and looks amazing. ”

A singing teacher by profession, Ms Erwin also has a handy background as a commercial flower grower.

She said the young pines are drip-irrigated and get some supplementary feeding on their way to being carefully cultivated as treasured traditional Christmas centrepieces.

They’re specially trimmed and shaped for their festive season duties well before there’s even a whiff of Christmas in the air.

“They’ve had a trim in March and then another at the beginning of October, and they do not grow symmetrically or at the same time,” she said.

This time of year, people visit in the lead up to Christmas and tag the tree they choose to collect either on the spot or closer to 25 December.

As for the Erwins themselves, once all the customers have chosen their ideal tree, they select one for their own home.

“We often get the John West ones,” she laughed. “We end up with the special ones.”