ChristmasTrees Atlantic is pleased to announce we will be hosting the Canadian Christmas Trees Association and the North Eastern Christmas Tree Research Alliance meetings late this summer.

Dates are August 28 and 29, 2026.   (Friday and Saturday)

 Christmas Trees Atlantic was first formed as Christmas Trees Nova Scotia to simply service the needs of a small group of growers in 2018.  The killing frost, really freeze, of June 4 in the same year pushed us into our first research endeavour.  Fellow growers and members were left wondering what to do? Should we prune off damage, add extra fertilizer, abandon hope?  We decided to set up trials with two differing levels of pruning to determine if such action might hasten latent bud enlargement.  We also performed some controlled fertlizer addition to examine potential benefit or harm.  The real blessing occured when, through former New Brunswick Christmas tree specialist and friend, Chris Dickie, Dr. Ron Smith, a geneticist and tree physiologist retired from the Canadian Forest Service and now working with the University of New Brunswick, was drawn into the work and frankly raised us to a hgiher level altogether.   Then, after one very bitterly cold February day of data collection, warming our fingers as we clutched a cold beer (????), we discovered we shared a passion for tree improvement.  The rest is history.  Ron’s guidance led to an amazing level of advancement, we drew quite a New Brunswick contingent along the way and quickly became Christmas Trees Atlantic. It has been a blast.  I doubt if Charlie Christie, who I grew up reading his and Alvin Power’s work, will ever fully appreciate how privileged we have been to enjoy his participation. And I know all of us in Nova Scotia feel blessed for the friends we have gained in New Brunswick.  Some truly incredible people. In fact, Arnold Perry of the Moncton / Havelock area was recognized for his work by being named the first honorary member of Christmas Trees Atlantic.

We simply continue to grow, and are blessed to be involved with the Canadian Association and the North Eastern Christmas Tree Reseaerch Alliance.  Both organizations are assisting in a well spring of collaborative growth and research.  And I think we will always live up to our motto, “growers helping growers”.