‘O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree’

Wade (center) with a few Tree City workers

When driving along the Beltline near Whitney Way, walking into Coppertop for breakfast or stopping at Vitense to hit a couple golf balls between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can’t help but notice what looks to be a Christmas tree farm right in the center of it all – that’s because there IS one, Tree City!  

Since 2001, Wade and Heather Comstock have set up shop with their pre-cut trees, wreaths and more from their land up in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.

“I grew up north of Black River Falls and went to school for forestry,” said Wade. “All through the summers in high school and college, I worked for Christmas tree farmers trimming their trees.”

When Wade graduated from college, he acquired land from a nearby grower who was looking to scale back on his acreage. Over time, he started planting on his own and it grew from there.

“You can start small with a few acres and then buy more from there,” said Wade. “You plant a certain amount every year of what you think you’re going to sell in the future and have a 10-year rotation. You plant as soon as you can in the spring when the first frost goes out of the ground.”

Wade and Heather’s land spans 125 acres in Black River Falls. The trees that are transported to Tree City at Vitense are grown and perfected years before making their way to the lot.

“If you have a six or seven foot tree, it takes about six or seven years to get to that height with good weather and good soil,” said Wade. “If you want it bigger than that, it takes longer.”

So, what does it take to prepare a tree to perfection for your home?

“When Wade plants trees, the seedlings are about three or four years old already,” said Heather. “They’ve gone through a long process of maturing by the time they’re harvested.”

The start begins at greenhouses where the seeds, called plugs, are planted. Later, they are transported to a nursery bed where they grow for another two-three years before the best trees are picked out, grown for another couple years and then sold to growers who plant them.

“People think you just put it in the ground, but that’s not the case,” said Wade. “Then, as the trees start to grow even more, certain trees form cones. We go and pick all the pine cones off the trees because the trees don’t care about looking nice.”

Wade notes that all the trees want to do is reproduce, which causes the cones to take all the energy and results in the branches not growing. De-coning is all done by hand, with some trees having anywhere from 300-500 cones. Weather also plays a big factor in how many cone buds are formed and overall tree growth.

“If you have a hot and dry end of June and early July, the tree is under a certain amount of stress,” said Wade. “You want to have it not too hot because it limits their growth. Half an inch to an inch of rain a week and cooler summers are ideal.”

Once the trees are done growing, the shearing begins. Shearing is a process that controls the shape and density of a tree and usually occurs the second or third year after a tree is planted.

“Wade can leave the house at 5:30 in the morning during the summertime and won’t get back until 6 or 7 at night at times,” said Heather. “It’s a full-time job. He’ll do all the field clean up, stump grinding, mowing, shearing and tagging of the trees he wants to harvest for the season. After the holiday season, he has to do his least favorite part, paperwork.”

And while the paperwork for Wade is inevitable soon, until then, this husband and wife duo enjoy nothing more than seeing their customers find the perfect trees for their homes. They welcome back old customers, meet new ones and work alongside their staff that consists of family members, local Madison residents and others from the Black River Falls area. Every year, their goal is to sell around 1,000 trees.

“I do remember a lot of faces who come here every year,” said Heather. “I’ve got the nice job in the trailer taking everyone’s payments and seeing how pleased they are with the service and trees. There’s a lot of people in Madison who are very supportive of a local business. They see a lot of value in a local business and want to buy a Wisconsin-grown product. We appreciate that.” 

“It’s a lot work, but it’s nice to have a product that you created, have grown and that people are excited about,” said Wade. “Knowing our product is in someone’s home and that our customers are able to celebrate the holidays with it. It’s all very nice and rewarding.”

To learn more about Tree City, visit their website here. You can also visit and like their Facebook page for updates and a behind-the-scenes look of Christmas tree farming life.

Heather and Wade Comstock