By Isle of Wight Observer
Shide Christmas Trees is part of the Thompson’s Garden Centre Group, and has been growing Christmas Trees on the Isle of Wight for over 25 years now. A small team of knowledgeable, experienced, dedicated staff, lead by our head grower, Peter, manage a 130-acre nursery that has close to 100,000 trees growing.
We are members of The British Christmas Tree Growers Association, who believe in the sustainable farming of Christmas trees. Did you know that the trees grow from taking carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas CO2, out of the atmosphere? One Christmas tree will then release enough clean oxygen for at least 18 people!
For every tree that’s cut, another is planted, so there’s always a constant cycle of growing Christmas trees. This spring we planted 7,000 Nordman Fir Trees and 3,500 Spruce, some of which will still be in the ground 20 years from now.
Around 30 years ago, a reservoir was built on the farm. It was landscaped all around the edges and, over the subsequent years, has matured into a wildlife haven. We reuse the water from the lake to irrigate fresh planting on the nursery.
The lake itself has a good range of fish as well as an abundance of beautiful dragonflies and damselflies, coots, and moorhens, and you can also find a resident kingfisher. The trees surrounding the lake are homes to many birds, including nuthatches, tree creepers and woodpeckers.
On the farm we also have bee hives which produce an abundance of honey. The hives have been looked after by local bee keepers for the past few years. All of this creates a fantastic eco-friendly wildlife haven that spans the whole 130-acre site.
Shide Christmas Trees will be open for business from November 22, supplying Island-grown trees for Island homes. For more information find us on Facebook or visit our web site: thompsons-plants.co.uk/shide-christmas-trees.
Isle of Wight Observer 
Mal Butler