No Needle Drop’ Nordmann Fir
The Nordmann Fir is a tough tree with thick, soft glossy needles that are dark green on the top and blue-green on the underside. It is renowned for holding onto its needles the best of all the different types of Christmas tree, meaning you won’t need to worry about putting the vacuum clearer into regular use during the festive period! For this reason the Nordmann is a good choice, particularly if you’ll be positioning your tree a bit closer to a radiator or open fire than would be ideal.
Traditional Norway Spruce
Norway Spruce is the traditional Christmas tree which has been popular since Victoria times with short and thin, varying bright and deep green pointed needles. It has a more triangular shape than other varieties with attractive red-brown bark, a rich coniferous fragrance, broad base and bushy habit. As the best value type of Christmas tree available, the Norway Spruce had been the single most popular variety in Europe for some time, but was recently overtaken by no needle drop varieties such as the Nordmann Fir.
Serbian Spruce
The Serbian or Omorika Spruce is one of the newer types of Christmas tree on the market, with a more slender shape than other types of tree, making it perfect for smaller homes, porches or corridors. Its needles are similar to the Norway spruce but flatter and soft with a bluey hue and almost white undersides. The branches are slightly drooping yet well spaced, making decorating easy with sprays pointing upwards at the ends. Needle retention is better than the Norway Spruce but not as good as the Nordmann Fir, so again we recommend buying your Serbian Spruce in mid-later December to reduce the amount of needle drop before Christmas. The Omorika Spruce boasts a pleasant, strong fragrance and works well with a simple scheme of plain lights spun around the tree from top to bottom.
Alberta White Spruce
A lovely, compact, slow growing conifer which makes the perfect mini Christmas tree with dense branches and a bluey hue. The Alberta White Spruce has its origin in North America but found its way to England around the 1700s. It has a conical form making it ideal to use as a large table top or windowsill tree. Supplied pot grown with a good chance of planting out after Christmas if you choose to have it indoors to start. After Christmas the Alberta White Spruce can be kept in the container but put outdoors in a sunny spot or, alternatively, planted at the front of a border or in the rock garden