Real Christmas Tree: Douglas Fir

The Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is not a true fir at all. Its genus name means “false hemlock”, and it stands alone in the pine family, a tree of the Pacific Northwest forests from British Columbia to California, where it grows to be one of the tallest conifers on Earth. It takes its common name from David Douglas, the Scottish plant collector who sent seed to Britain in 1827, and its botanical name from Archibald Menzies, the naval surgeon who recorded it on Vancouver Island a generation earlier. Its cones are unmistakable: each scale carries a three-pronged bract that pokes out like the tail and hind legs of a mouse hiding inside, which is how children across the Pacific Northwest learn to tell it from every other cone on the forest floor. In North America it has been the Christmas tree of choice for well over a century, and across Europe it is prized for the same qualities: soft, flat needles that are kind to the hand, branches held in horizontal, layered tiers that ornaments hang in as well as on, and a fragrance that is clean and citrus-edged rather than resinous.

In Australia, the Douglas Fir has a smaller and stranger story. It was planted in trials and small plantations across the cooler tablelands in the early twentieth century, and it grew well in the right places, but our forestry industry committed almost wholly to the faster Monterey Pine, and the Douglas Fir was left behind. The result is that a well-grown cut Douglas Fir is something few Australian growers attempt. Ours are grown by Spruced, a specialist Christmas tree grower we have partnered with for five seasons, on a cool-climate farm where the species does what it does at home: puts on dense, even growth in symmetrical, conical tiers. The trees are sheared for density and graded for shape before they are netted, and we collect the week’s allocation from the farm and bring it to the Southern Highlands for delivery and collection in the same week.

Because of our warmer harvest window, the trees are often still flushing soft new growth when they are cut. Those tender, pale-green tips are where the scent is strongest, and the tree looks most alive, and they carry lights and light ornaments beautifully. Heavier pieces are best hung in toward the trunk on the older wood, where the layered branching gives them room to hang clear. It is a small adjustment that makes this tree look exactly as it should, and it is the honest reason the Douglas Fir reads as elegant where a pine reads as sturdy.

Here’s why we think you’ll love the Real Douglas Fir Christmas Tree:

• Species: Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas Fir)
• Provenance: Native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, from coastal British Columbia to the Sierra Nevada; grown for us by Spruced, a specialist Christmas tree grower, and graded for shape before netting
• Scent: Mild, sweet and clean, with distinct citrus undertones; strongest on the new tips and when the needles are bruised
• Foliage: Soft, flat, flexible needles, glossy dark green with white undersides; holds its colour well indoors
• Branching: Horizontal and layered, sheared for density; ornaments hang in as well as on the tree, with heavier pieces on the older wood near the trunk
• Sizes: 5ft to 10ft (approx. 1.5m to 3.0m), measured from the cut base of the trunk to the tip of the leader; add roughly 10cm for a stand
• Best For: Households with small children or pets, decorators who want an elegant international-style tree, and anyone who has had a real Douglas Fir abroad and missed it since