Firstly, it’s important to know and understand that every tree is different, some are darker in colour, some have more sensitive needles, while some are prone to stronger more noticeable smells. When you go to collect your tree we recommend that you begin by bending a needle in half with your fingers; fresh firs should snap, while fresh pines bend and should not break. To find the best Christmas tree that will last the longest, gently grab the inside of a branch and pull your hand toward you. The needles should stay on the tree. Alternatively, gently tap the cut end of a tree on the ground; if a few needles fall off, it should be fine. If a lot of needles fall off, keep searching for a different tree. Fortunately, here at Keele, all trees are carefully inspected before harvest and during sale to ensure all trees are suitable for even the pickiest of customer, (after all, we’d never sell a tree we wouldn’t display ourselves). It's equally as important to understand what you want, one glove doesn’t fit all, nor does one tree. All of our trees are different in size, quality, growth and colour, meaning it’s important to consider what is right for you. Our team of on farm advisors and harvesters will be more than happy to help you with picking and getting the right tree for you and your family, but it’s useful to consider desired colour and size before picking a tree as trees can greatly differ in aspects. Our farm ready trees come in a selection of handing sizes ranging from 5ft to 9ft. When picking your tree size, we recommend that you consider the available size at home and desired fit as a guideline for choosing. If worried feel free to get in touch with our friendly team of online customer advisors or alternatively flag down one our helpful elf’s (they may know a thing or two) when down! The non-physical details can be as important, for example it is important to know the history of your tree, this means understanding the country of origin, original growers and age of the tree. All of our trees are grown on our family farm here on the English, Welsh border, giving us the opportunity to carefully monitor the quality of the tree through its growing cycle to manage any imperfections and conform to the industries standards and growing regulations. When choosing Keele, you are choosing a reassurance that your tree has been grown here in the UK, through sustainable and effective practices. The history of your tree is available upon request, and through consultation with our harvesters you can understand its age and growth cycle. We offer this because we know how important it is for our customers to understand the tree they are receiving. Regardless, it is important that the origin of a tree is understood, this is because a tree’s quality and life span can differ depending on the region of growth, trees grown and imported from Norway for example (common practice in the UK) are prone to high density needle dropping and a loss of colour and smell. When choosing Keele we can assure you that you are choosing quality and sustainability, all of our trees go through rigorous growing and selection processes, to put quality before profits, always.