At Carl Karding’s house, Christmas is in the air.
The fragrant scent of white pine and cedar drifts up from the basement, where Karding has been creating wreaths.
Karding has a passion for Christmas trees, and wreaths are just a small part of what he does.
If you have purchased a locally grown Christmas tree in Salmon Arm, odds are that Karding, owner of Karmac Christmas Trees, has sheared or possibly grown your tree.
He shears for all but one of the tree farms in the Salmon Arm area, he says, as well as a couple in Armstrong and Kelowna.
Locally, he sells the trees he grows himself at Pedro Gonzales Fruit Stand. He also sells trees in Calgary, a market he is working to expand.
Karding comes by his love for the trees naturally.
He grew up on what was originally a dairy farm but, when he was 12, his dad converted it to Christmas trees. His dad continued to work growing Christmas trees until recently, when, at 91, he retired.
In 1972 Karding moved away from his family home and came to Salmon Arm, where he finished high school and worked at a dairy farm.
Although he eventually moved away, he was drawn to return.
“This area left such a positive impression on me, I had to come back.”
He points out there’s another family connection to the Christmas tree business in Salmon Arm. His brother Norman, who grows Christmas trees in the Lower Mainland, sells his trees to Nico’s Nurseryland.
In 1995, Karding moved back again and leased land in Tappen to grow trees. That crop, however, was anything but successful. He ended up losing $30,000 and 30,000 trees.
Discouraged but determined, he started over, eventually acquiring land in Scotch Creek for growing. He now also manages a plantation at Skimikin Nursery and grows trees on the Ruth’s land.
When Karding talks about his work with trees, his face lights up with enthusiasm.
“I love shearing trees, I love shaping them. You take a tree that’s wild, you clip it in certain places. When you shear a tree, for every action, there’s a reaction… Shaping trees, it’s a form of an art I suppose.”
Karding uses a 14-inch knife and it takes him, on average, about a minute per tree.
He notes that he and his son Ken sheared 4,000 trees at the Jespersen’s tree farm and had the job done in three days.
Trees are sheared once a year and Karding estimates he’s probably sheared about 100,000 so far.
The trees are susceptible to diseases such as fungus, he says, so they’re sprayed to protect them.
He grows a variety of trees, but mostly Douglas fir.
“In this area, Douglas fir is your bread and butter,” he explains.
When a tree is planted in the ground, it’s already two to three years old. A Douglas fir can take six to eight years after it’s planted before it’s ready to grace someone’s home. The more expensive Fraser fir, 11 to 12 years, he says.
Along with Douglas, Fraser and Grand firs – his main varieties – Karding also grows some balsam fir, concolor fir, Norway spruce, blue spruce, Scotch pine and white pine. As he works to expand in the Calgary market, he notes that most of their trees now come from the East and are the more expensive Fraser fir and balsam. A Douglas fir goes for about $35, a Fraser fir for $50 or $60 he says.
“It’s like comparing a Chevrolet to a Cadillac. The (Fraser fir) branches are stiffer, they’re a deep green. They almost look artificial. Oh, I hate that word,” he says, followed by a laugh. “Don’t say it at all. They say that’s our biggest competition.”
He doesn’t buy the argument that artificial trees are more environmentally friendly.
“That gets Christmas tree farmers irate. Plastic takes 100 years to break down. A Christmas tree provides enough oxygen for about seven people,” he says, adding that Christmas trees are farmed so they are replaced and sustainable.
As for being a fire hazard, he said if live trees are taken care of properly, they’re not.
They should be watered regularly, shouldn’t be placed near heat registers, and the tree lights shouldn’t be left on when the home is vacant.
“My personal opinion, you shouldn’t really leave a tree in the house for more than 10 to 14 days,” he says, noting that’s the ideal time but they can be kept inside longer if they’re looked after properly.
And what kind of tree does Karding choose for his family’s own Christmas tree?
“Last year was a Fraser.”
Working with Christmas trees is a good way of life, he says, one that he hopes to keep doing at least as long as his father did.
“Christmas trees are like a lot of farming, it’s a labour of love. You don’t do it to get rich, it’s a labour of love. I’m doing what I want to do.”