Revak Nursery sells thousands of Christmas trees
Date Modified: 12/17/2009 9:49 AM
E-mail article | Print version
Agri News staff writer
LAKEVILLE, Minn. -- Dale Revak worked a part-time job when he was in college, selling Christmas trees from a strip mall parking lot.
Something about it stuck with him: People were happier at Christmas time, explained his wife, Donna.
So when Dale and Donna married in 1973 and bought some land, they decided to grow Christmas trees. They planted 2,000 pine trees in 1978, and watched their three children -- Brandon, David and Amy -- grow with them.
They sold their first tree in 1985.
Today, Revak Nursery operates two farms, one in Elko/New Market and one in Lakeville. Combined, they have approximately 70 acres and 90,000 trees in production. They sell landscape trees from spring to fall and a few thousand Christmas trees every year.
So what goes into growing Christmas trees?
Revak Nursery starts with seedlings from greenhouses that have grown inside for two years and outside for two years. The four-year-old transplants may only be six to eight inches tall when they arrive.
They're inter-planted periodically with older trees, but the Revaks like to clear an area, even of stumps, and start fresh. They'll put the seedlings in a plot approximately four acres in size. Donna said a general rule of thumb is 1,000 trees per acre.
Fertilizer pellets are dropped in with the seedlings at planting. The pellets release nutrients for two years. More fertilizer is broadcast applied by hand each spring and fall. The nursery's irrigation system is turned on right after planting if rain isn't in the forecast.
Once a tree starts taking shape, it's trunk, or leader, is hand-sheared with a machete each year to cut back new growth. This reduces spacing between rows of branches. Otherwise, a tree's branches would grow with too much space between rows, making a sparse Christmas tree. They shear and trim branches during summer.
Cutting back new growth is one reason why it takes so long to grow a Christmas tree. It can take eight years at the farm for pine trees to grow to the ideal six to eight feet height. It'll be 10-12 years before their balsam, Fraser and Canaan Firs, as well as their Black Hills Spruces, grow that tall.
Then, for about one month of the year, the public comes. They opened Nov. 21 for this season.
They like to create a fun experience for families. Santa Claus makes appearances on some weekends and they run a concession stand and kiddie train that travels around the farm. A Christmas shop at their Lakeville farm sells thousands of ornaments and other decorations. Some items come from the Czech Republic and Poland, which appeals to local customers' heritage. Their decorations are sold year-round online.
"I try to carry ornaments people aren't going to see any place else," Donna said.
For their choose-and-cut trees, pricing is simple: Long-needled trees, like pines, sell for $29.95 while those with short needles, such as the firs, go for $44.95. Pre-cuts are priced individually based on size and variety, with a little extra cost to account for labor and the risk of cutting a tree that might not sell.
Pre-cuts that don't sell, stumps and branches from trimming are all chipped for mulch and used to protect seedlings.
The family balances their time between the tree farm and their other business, R&R Cleaning Contractors, Inc., which handles building maintenance. Donna is also on the board of directors for the Minnesota Christmas Tree Association, which keeps the family promoting Christmas trees year-round. She led the association's Go Green, Get Real campaign this year. It promotes the environmental benefits of buying real Christmas trees. Buying a real tree supports the grower who will plant more trees that convert carbon dioxide to oxygen, she said.