What will be your Christmas tree this year?
This December, you can see different types of conifers that are or were common to use as Christmas trees.
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Historically, in Western Norway, Christmas trees were fashioned from pine trees (Pinus sylvestris). Holes were drilled in the trunk to insert extra branches so that shape would resemble more closely the classic form of the silver fir tree (Abies alba) as traditional in Germany. Along the coast, Christmas trees were also fashioned from juniper branches and broomsticks. For many people, this was the tradition from before the second world war well into the 1990s. It was with the Christmas tree trains ('juletretogene') from Hallingdal that spruce trees really arrived in Bergen. In recent years the preferred form of a Christmas tree has further changed dramatically. Nowadays it should appear neatly trimmed and dense, and preferably be a fir tree (genus Abies), which does not drop its needles, or an artificial tree that can be reused.
At the crossroads between the alpine garden and the Japanese garden in the Botanical Garden, we have created a small Christmas tree forest, where you can look at the different types of tree that have been used as Christmas trees. You can see examples and descriptions (in Norwegian) here.
Welcome to the Botanical Garden in December!
