£59 – £167
Introduced to Britain relatively recently, the Fraser is growing in popularity year on year. The Fraser originates from Canada and North America where it is the biggest selling Christmas tree. The reason for its popularity is its excellent needle retention coupled with a beautiful orangey scent. The Fraser has a slimmer more wispy look to the Noble and Nordman, particularly in the smaller sizes – if you’re after the perfect symmetry, this might not be the tree for you, but if you love the smell and want a fresh tree that’ll keep it’s soft needles well, it’s a great choice. Read more.
Companies and growers measure Christmas trees in lots of ways, so on our website we’ve tried to keep it relatively simple: our measurements in feet are a minimum height to the top of the tree. So, if you order a 6ft tree it will be at least 6ft from the base of the trunk to the tippy top.
The long bit on the top of the tree (where you put your star or fairy) is called the ‘leader’. With natural products it’s not a perfect science, so this can be quite long on some trees and much shorter on others. A 6ft tree might be bang on 6ft, or might be a bit taller. Don’t forget to account for this potential extra height – sometimes up to 1.5ft for taller trees - but if your tree has a long leader, you can always cut a bit off.
If you’re putting your tree in any sort of stand, that will add some height to the tree, so don’t forget to factor it in to the overall measurement! If you need a stand, we sell them here.
Bear in mind that the taller your tree, the wider it will be at the base. Nordman Firs and Norway Spruces in particular get quite big and bushy as they get taller, so make sure you’ve got space!
We had a lovely tree last year, selected Nordman Fir for a baby’s first Christmas on the company’s advice, and it lived up to their claims, was a good shape and reasonably priced (especially considering that named-day delivery is included). Happy to order again this year.
The Fraser Fir (Abies Fraseri) is a close relative of the Balsam Fir. Both are native to North America, with the Fraser originating from the Appalachian Mountains of the south-eastern US. It’s one of the most popular choices of Christmas tree over in the States, having been chosen more times than any other variety for use as the official White House tree.
The Fraser is a slow-growing tree – a 7ft tree might be as much as 10 years old – and tends to favour higher elevation and slightly cooler climates. In the UK they’re therefore mainly grown in Scotland (quite appropriately, as they’re named after a Scot), but so long as we get a reasonable amount of rain they do very well down here in the South East too.
The branches on a Fraser tend to be angled upwards anywhere up to around 45 degrees. This can give the tree a slightly more slender appearance and also means that the branches are strong when it comes to hanging decorations from them. The Fraser has a conical shape but tends not to be quite as symmetrical as the Nordman, The needles on a Fraser are soft and flat, tightly spaced and often with a silvery or whitish tinge on the underside, and they hold on well after harvest. The Fraser has quite sticky sap.
Frasers grow up to around 15 meters typically, if left alone and thin out a lot as they get taller.
The Fraser makes for an excellent Christmas tree for its:
Generally you have to choose between scent and needle retention, but the Fraser is a fantastic mix of both!
Companies and growers measure Christmas trees in lots of ways, so on our website we’ve tried to keep it relatively simple: our measurements in feet are a minimum height to the top of the tree. So, if you order a 6ft tree it will be at least 6ft from the base of the trunk to the tippy top – typically, it will be a bit taller. Don’t forget to account for this potential extra height – sometimes up to 1.5ft for taller trees.
The long bit on the top of the tree (where you put your star or fairy) is called the ‘leader’. This can be quite long on some trees and much shorter on others – just natural variance – so growers account for this when measuring by taking a height to halfway up the leader (halfway between the top set of branches and the top of the tree). Just to confuse things a bit further, the industry standard is centimetre ranges. Here’s a handy conversion:
Tree ordered - Height to halfway up leader:
4ft tree - 125-150cm
5ft tree - 150-175cm
6ft tree - 175-200cm
7ft tree - 200-225cm
8ft tree - 225-250cm
9ft tree - 250-300cm
With natural products it’s not a perfect science, so these ranges act as a guide and your tree may be a little outside of the ranges in either direction.
If you’re putting your tree in any sort of stand, that will add some height to the tree, so don’t forget to factor it in to the overall measurement! If you need a stand, we sell them here.
Bear in mind that the taller your tree, the wider it will be at the base. Nordman Firs and Norway Spruces in particular get quite big and bushy as they get taller, so make sure you’ve got space!