GORE — As they tramp through a pine forest north of town, Dave Koch and his 13-year-old daughter Blake join a search that thousands of other area residents make this time of year — the search for the perfect Christmas tree.

Fortunately, they know just what to look for and where to go.

“We like real trees because they’re more natural looking,” said Blake, an eighth-grader at Gore Middle School.

Dave Koch said he always buys trees from the Cal2Homa Christmas Tree Farm north of Gore because the owners, Brian and Rachelle Batesole are good friends.

“And we like to see them blessed,” he said.

The Batesoles’ tree farm is just one of several places people can buy Christmas trees in the Muskogee area. Discount stores, home improvement stores and grocers offer live and artificial trees of all sizes and varieties.

Steve Romine, outdoor gardening sales manager at Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, said small artificial trees seem to be the top sellers this year.

“We’ve actually sold a lot more artificial trees this year, mostly four-foot tall table-top ones, even though the fresh ones are more economical,” he said Wednesday morning. “We only have, like, three left.”

However, the home improvement store also has a variety of cut natural trees, including Fraser fir, Scotch pine and Douglas fir he said.

Romine said the Fraser fir is the best tree for the money.

“It’s a fuller, really green, nice looking tree,” he said. “The trees are in a medium price range.”

Fraser firs also are less likely to drop leaves or needles, he said. “I would not recommend a Scotch pine with kids, it could cut hands.”

Cal2Homa has two main tree varieties this year, Carolina sapphire and Virginia pine.

Brian Batesole said buyers are attracted to the Carolina sapphire because of its unique color.

“It’s a bluish tree as opposed to a traditional green,” he said. “A lot of our customers decorate those trees with all-white lights. It looks sparkling and almost frosted.”

Rachelle Batesole said people can find varieties of the same kind of tree, such as Virginia pine. She pointed to one tall, narrow pine just down the row from a short, fat tree.

“My goodness, that one needs to be on Weight Watchers,” she said.

People don’t have to worry about fallen needles even with the live Virginia pines, she said.

“What a pine tree does is grow a layer of needles over last year’s needles,” she said. “We shake the needles out when we sell the tree.”

The Oklahoma Christmas Tree Association’s Web site lists Cal2Homa as the only Christmas tree farm in the Muskogee area.



Christmas tree care

Tips for caring for a fresh Christmas tree:

• Place tree in a bucket of water or a tree stand upon arriving home.

• If bought at a retail lot, allow the cut end to dry and make a fresh, straight cut across the trunk about an inch from the original cut, and place in the stand.

• Never let the container dry out. Keep the tree stand water.

• Water daily.

• When finished, live trees can be used as a bird feeder or bird shelter during winter. Tie fruit peelings or popcorn as bird feed.

• More information: www.okchristmastrees.com.

Source: Oklahoma Christmas Tree Association.