Our Family Farm

The first Christmas trees were planted at the Jolly Holly Christmas Tree Farm in 1996.  John and Maria planted them by hand. The trees only measured 6 inches tall above ground. It takes eight to nine years to grow a six-foot tree as long as the rain is plentiful and the deer and the bugs don't get too hungry. 

We plant the trees in September. The first year we planted 500 and half failed to survive the winter. Each year we plant an additional 300 trees. We plant the trees 7 feet apart and do the best we can to keep the rows straight in our rocky soil. We didn't realize it when we started, but we eventually found out that a crooked row makes mowing and weed cutting much more difficult.  We now have approximately 2,000 trees growing.  

We also learned that a Christmas tree farm is a great natural habitat for a whole range of animals and birds. The young deer bucks love to scratch their antlers on our spruce trees. They also love to eat our fir trees.  Field mice, ground hogs and baby rabbits use the trees' branches as cover to avoid flying predators like kestrels, hawks and owls.  Numerous bird species find Christmas trees a perfectly lovely nesting habitat.  Periodically, a Great Blue Heron flies down to inspect our pond for tasty fish. Blue Jays, Doves, Cardinals and Robins also join us in abundance. You might find a vacated nest hidden among the branches if you come to  the Jolly Holly to get your tree. We usually pluck four or five from our trees after the eggs have hatched and the small birds have flown the coop.

We've also played host to itinerant black bears, wild turkeys, rabbits, deer, vultures, groundhogs, and a family of four robust coyotes that shows up periodically in the wee hours of the morning howling like a furry midnight choir. 

We are lucky to be just down a long hill from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, so we are blessed with a beautiful rural landscape and a neighborhood rich in natural diversity. 

If you visit us, we hope you'll have some time to visit the shops and sights of the area while you are here. 

Our farm is a Choose & Cut operation, which means that you are encouraged to follow the age old tradition and cut your tree by hand with a bow saw (which we will provide). If you need help, we have someone available to cut the tree you select. We have one price for all of our trees regardless of size: $45.00.

Call for information: 908 362 6327  Or email us at: Santa@jollyhollychristmastrees.com