LONGMONT, Colo.—Why settle for just having a Christmas tree? Why not give a Christmas tree this year?
“We grow all our trees here from seed,” said Jon Hulme, owner of Rocky Mountain Pines.
Hulme plants about 250 to 300 trees every year in his 52,000-square-foot greenhouse at 5555 Colo. Highway 66. From the greenhouse, many of them go into the ground on the 38-acre site, which was started in 1976.
Aside from the Christmas trees Rocky Mountain Pines grows for the U.S. Forest Service—the company is growing 5,000 for Rocky Mountain National Park this year—and landscapers, it provides an opportunity for the public to buy trees for themselves or to use as gifts.
For example, one of Rocky Mountain Pines’ products is a foot-long packaged seedling. They come in plastic canisters or a “soft pack” and can be mailed as gifts or used as promotional giveaways.
“(The town of) Firestone handed out 450 of these at their 100-year celebration,” Hulme said.
The seedlings sell for about $4.49 each, and the price comes down when they are sold in bulk.
“Our average order on these is usually around 500 pieces,” Hulme said.
Rocky Mountain Pines has introduced a new product this year: the Tree Starter Kit. About the size of a film canister, the kit is peat moss that contains Christmas tree seeds. People can grow their own Christmas trees from seed, although it will take a while, Hulme acknowledged. The kits retail for about $2.99 each and make great stocking stuffers, he said.
They aren’t in many stores yet but can be purchased at Rocky Mountain Pines’ headquarters.
“We’re just kind of seeing if it will be worth pushing nationwide next year,” Hulme said.
Rocky Mountain Pines grows three types of trees: Austrian and ponderosa pines and blue spruce.
The company does offer small trees for sale: 1- to 4-foot varieties that are large enough to decorate for Christmas and that can be transplanted from their pots into the ground afterward.
“You pay about the same for a cut tree that you use for a month as you would for a live tree that you would have for 100 years,” Hulme said.
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