Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2008/January 2009 | Page 80

life

GARDENING

Branching out for
the environment
Roz Whistance meets the lady making
Christmas happen at Thompson’s
“I don’t think people realise how much is
grown on the Isle of Wight,” says Ursula
Thompson. We have been watching the
cutting of the first Christmas trees of the
season at their Christmas tree farm, and
Ursula is laying to rest some of those
“real or artificial” niggles that still persist.
Is it environmentally sound to cut off
a tree in its prime just to enjoy it for a
couple of weeks before Christmas?
“It’s a crop like any other,” says Ursula,
“and we are constantly replanting. I
think the Isle of Wight is going to have
a wonderful environment soon: the trees
attract so much wildlife.” When she and
her husband, David Thompson, took
over the farm where they now grow their
trees, he invigorated the soil with large
quantities of organic material, and they
are seeing the results: earthworms, birds

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and wildflowers are making an active
return, and even red squirrels are hovering
on the sidelines. Then of course trees
absorb carbon dioxide. It is reckoned
that each acre of Christmas trees gives
off enough oxygen each year to meet the
needs of 16 people.
So somehow when you see the display of
trees at Thompson’s, you feel a great sense
of relief. You also feel festive and jolly,
and frankly bowled over by scent of pine.
The huge variety of trees that are there
also knocks you for six. In the past the
most popular tree was the Norway Spruce:
it grows quickly, so can be more cost
effective, which means it is a lower priced
tree. The scent is lovely, but it’s reputation
is slightly tarnished for dropping needles.
“When they used to be imported from
Denmark they were often cut at the

beginning of October and by the time
they got to the UK they’d been stacked
on crates, they weren’t fresh and there
was a problem with nee dle drop,” Ursula
explains. However, as Thompsons cut their
trees fresh each week, they should not
drop needles, as long the tree stand has a
water reservoir, and isn’t near a radiator.
However, non-drop varieties, such as
the Nordman and the Frazer Firs, were
developed to counter the problem. The
former takes longer to grow, so is more
expensive than the Norway Spruce; the
latter has a lovely bluey underside to the
branches. If space is a problem, consider
the Serbian Spruce for its lovely slim
shape. Then there is the Blue Spruce,
with its amazing colouring, but which is
costly because it is so very slow growing.
Thompson’s sells this as a pot-grown tree,

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