With Thanksgiving upon us, the focus of many people is now Christmas and in particular finding a tree to decorate.
Wesley Bass at Bass Tree Farm has been helping people find those trees for more than three decades, and this year, the farm has relocated its sales area to a new location around the corner from the previous one. The new site, 103 Riley Road, was being prepared this week for the throngs of visitors that converge on the farm between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“We’ve been planting for four years at this site,” Bass said. “We’re looking forward to a good season. We’ll still have some big trees at the other location. We’re not going to have the gift shop like we used to, but we’ll still have the accessories for the trees. We will have a building with the accessories, stands, tree bags and all of the paraphernalia for the trees.”
Bass said the farm has a variety of tree species available for the Christmas season.
“We have five species here,” he said. “We have Leland cypress, Ovensi, Mexican cypress and two sub-species of Arizona cypress; we have the Blue Ice a nd the Carolina Sapphire. We will also bring in Frasier firs from the mountains and they will be cut trees.”
Bass said there is no sales tax on trees grown in Mississippi, a first this year.
“The legislature finalized that,” he said. “The ones from out of state, from the mountains, would still be subject to sales tax.”
Tree prices begin at about $30, and Bass said the busy season is about to commence.
“Believe it or not, I have people that actually want to cut a tree in October,” he said. “But we try to talk them out of that. But in a lot of instances, we have people that work overseas and they will have their Christmas at Thanksgiving. We just explain to them that their tree may not last until Christmas and they understand that. This year, we have five weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is very early this year – it’s kind of unusual for it to be that early. It spreads the season out.”
The busiest times vary according to Bass.
“It’s changed over the years,” he said. “It used to be that the second and third weekends in December were always the busiest, but in the last several years, Thanksgiving week and weekend and the next weekend are the two busiest.”
Bass Tree Farms also has a major honor this year, something that has made them proud in the past.
“We have the Governor’s Tree again this year,” he said. “They will be coming to get in soon. It will go in the Governor’s Mansion. It’s a 13-foot Leland cypress. We’ve had a number of trees there. Over the years, we’ve put a lot in the State Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion. We’ve been doing this close to 30 years now.”
Bass offers several tips to potential tree buyers.
“The No. 1 thing they look for is size,” he said. “We have our trees priced according to size in the fields. When we measure a tree, they’re actually two inches taller than the tag says, so when you cut it, you are actually getting it at a minimum of what you’re paying for. The biggest advice I give is that if the tree looks a little small out in the field, it’s going to be just about perfect in the house. After you get them in your house, they seem to grow, meaning that they look smaller in a field and then they look larger in scale in the house. They get a lot bigger because you don’t have the perspective.”
Bass said one of the things people battle with is tree stands.
“We have stands for sale and we can put the tree in the stand,” he said. “We put it on for you every year. I’ve got people that have been using the same stand for 20 years. They bring them back every year.”
There are also some tips to keep your tree healthy, according to Bass.
“The biggest thing about your tree is don’t put it around a heat source,” he said. “Don’t put it by a fireplace or a vent. A lot of people don’t understand that if they put it by a vent and you run your heat a lot, it will dry it out. Imagine yourself standing under a hair dryer for four weeks, that’s basically what you’re doing to the tree. Use some common sense; shut the vents off around the tree and do not let it run out of water.
“Everybody asks what do you put in it? The main thing is water; do not let it run out. Once you let it run out, the bottom will seal off. You have to do a fresh cut then. There are a few products we recommend, you can put something called ‘Keeps it Green’ in the first two gallons of water. It opens the pores up in the tree. I also recommend using hot water, especially for the first time, as it will melt the rosin on it.”
Pictured Above: Wesley Bass walks through rows of Christmas trees at the Bass Tree Farm, located just north of Columbia on Riley Road. | Photo by Mark Rogers
