Built from the actual tree species listed across the 888 farms we track — 202 distinct species and cultivars, 2641 total farm-species listings.
There's no single best Christmas tree species — there's a best species for your climate, your regional farming tradition, and what you personally want from needle retention, scent, and shape. True firs and spruces need cold winters and, for the classic species, real elevation; that's why a Fraser fir farm in North Carolina's high country and a Leyland cypress farm in Georgia or Texas can both be entirely legitimate, well-run operations growing completely different trees suited to completely different growing conditions.
Fraser fir is the single most commonly listed species across our farms, appearing at 351 of them — no surprise, since it combines the classic conical shape, strong branches, and the best needle retention of any commonly farmed species. But it's far from the only real choice, and for warm-climate growers it often isn't a choice at all: 110 of our listings grow Leyland cypress specifically because a Fraser fir simply won't survive their summers.
| Species | Farms growing it | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Fraser fir | 351 | The default "Christmas tree" silhouette for a reason: strong upward-angled branches that hold heavy ornaments without drooping, excellent needle retention, and a soft blue-green color. Native to high-elevation Appalachia, which is why it dominates farms in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia in particular. |
| White Pine | 205 | Soft, long, feathery needles and very little scent, which matters to anyone sensitive to strong pine smell or with allergies. Branches are more flexible and can’t hold heavy ornaments as well as a fir, so it suits a lighter-decoration style. |
| Douglas fir | 180 | Dense, full, and softer-needled than a true fir, with a sweet, distinct fragrance many people associate most strongly with "Christmas tree smell." Branches are less rigid than a Fraser’s, so it can struggle with heavier ornaments unless well-spaced. |
| Canaan fir | 157 | Genetically close to balsam fir but grown at lower elevations, which makes it viable to farm in places balsam struggles. Splits the difference between Fraser and balsam in look and scent, and has become a popular farm-grown alternative across the mid-Atlantic. |
| Balsam fir | 157 | The classic New England and Upper Midwest choice: narrow, conical, dark green, and famously fragrant even after weeks indoors. Needle retention is good but not quite Fraser-fir-level, so a fresh cut and a well-watered stand matter more. |
| Scotch Pine | 149 | A long-time farm staple: stiff branches that hold ornaments well, excellent needle retention even when it dries out, and a bright green color. The needles are longer than a fir’s, giving it a bushier, less formal look. |
| Blue spruce | 121 | Strikingly blue-silver foliage and a stiff, formal, symmetrical shape that holds ornaments extremely well. The tradeoff is sharp, stiff needles that are genuinely less pleasant to handle than a fir’s, and needle retention that lags behind the firs. |
| Concolor fir | 116 | Also called white fir, notable for soft, citrusy-scented needles (genuinely different from the piney smell of most other species) and a striking silvery-blue-green color. A good pick for anyone who finds typical pine scent overpowering. |
| Leyland Cypress | 110 | The dominant substitute-species choice across the warm-climate South, where true firs and spruces can’t survive the growing conditions. Soft, feathery, blue-green foliage, a mild scent, and strong heat tolerance make it the backbone of tree farming from the Carolinas down through Texas and the Gulf states. |
| Virginia Pine | 92 | Another Southern substitute-species workhorse: bushier and less symmetrical than a fir, with a distinctive strong pine scent, valued for tolerating heat and humidity that would strip a fir bare. |
| Norway spruce | 86 | Fast-growing and often the most affordable option on a lot, with a classic dense shape. Needle retention is the weakest of the commonly farmed species — it drops needles fastest once cut, so it rewards a fresh cut and prompt setup over a long pre-Christmas display. |
| Carolina Sapphire | 74 | A silvery-blue cypress cultivar with a soft, almost powdery-blue color and a citrusy scent, increasingly popular as a distinctive alternative to Leyland cypress in the same warm-climate growing regions. |
Farms often grow several species side by side and let you compare them in the field — the count here is how many farms list that species at all, not an exclusive count.
If a farm grows more than one species — and most cut-your-own operations do — the field is the best place to make the real decision, not a website description. Two questions are worth asking on arrival:
Species availability shifts through a season as the most popular types are cut first — the tree types listed for each farm on this site reflect what that farm generally grows, not a live inventory count.