Watch: Climax of year’s work for Cork Christmas tree farm

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but for Cork Christmas tree farmer Trevor Roper, preparations for the festive season are a year-long affair.

Inniscarra Christmas Tree Farm sits just seven kilometres from Cork city, with 12,000 trees nestled in the picturesque Lee Valley.

Mr Roper has been growing trees on his family farm since 2012 and spoke to The Echo about producing trees that have been standing proudly in Cork living rooms since he first opened his doors to the public five years ago.

“It’s a busy season for us here at Inniscarra Christmas Tree Farm. You’re working all year long but it’s only when you get to December where you get to sort of enjoy the rewards of it. Most people don’t realise it takes about seven to 10 years for the Christmas trees to grow.”

During the run up to Christmas, the farm will be open seven days a week.

“Those weeks fly along because it’s so sociable that everyone is in such a good spirit,” said Mr Roper.

Trevor and his team spend months making sure each tree is spruced up and ready for customers

“Christmas is actually not really the hard part. Most people don’t seem to realise what goes on the rest of the year and what goes into it.

“You have to plant every tree, each tree gets pruned every year and you’re doing a load of other activities to sort of shape the tree, like bud picking and stop them from going too tall.”

Buying a Christmas tree at Inniscarra has become a fun family day out for many.

“We get loads of families coming down to the farm at this time of year. It’s quite special for them because we have hot chocolate with lights and music.”

No two trees are the same and neither are customers as they have learned over the years at Inniscarra

“When people come to get their tree from us, everyone has their own preference... trees around seven to eight foot are the standard but we are selling anything from four foot up to 15 foot trees.”