Evergreen species native to Rayonier’s Pacific Northwest forests produce high-quality and high-value branches for the holiday decor industry.
Around the holiday season, you might catch yourself humming the tune, “Deck the Halls” – a popular and classic Christmas carol with the familiar line, “deck the halls with boughs of holly.”
But have you ever stopped to wonder what “boughs” are and where they come from?
In the Pacific Northwest, Rayonier working forests grow millions of pounds of evergreen boughs each year for commercial wreath and garland production. Contracted companies work alongside Rayonier to sustainably produce, harvest and sell this highly sought-after forest product. It is one of many products Rayonier working forests grow in addition to timber. Other examples include salal used in floral arrangements; pine straw used in landscaping; edible mushrooms; and saw palmetto, which is used in men’s health products.
What are boughs?
Simply put, evergreen boughs are branches from evergreen trees. Each year, over the course of just three months, about 1 million pounds of boughs are collected from Rayonier land. Commercially, evergreen boughs are used in decorative holiday decor items like wreaths, swags, garland, centerpieces and other holiday greenery.
Favored tree species include true firs, such as noble and Pacific silver fir, and cedars such as western red and Port Orford cedars.
“Both of these species command higher prices,” explains Aurelio Quintero, Forestry Technician Silviculture Forester for Mount Saint Helens Reforestation and Hugo Reforestation. “Western white pine is also a desirable species. The boughs are sold by the pound to manufacturing companies in the Pacific Northwest and other states. They specialize in the creation of decorating products sold as retailed items.”
Holiday demand for evergreen boughs
Florists and holiday decor makers look for certain bough specifications for use in end products. Such specifications include branch symmetry, a dark green or blue needle color, closely clumped secondary branches, and a disease-free plant. Typically, noble fir is used to make wreaths and swags, while the western red cedar is popular for use in garlands.
To get the ideal bough, Aurelio’s team works with Rayonier year-round to manage and assess the working forest.
“We first conduct an inventory of tree densities and quality of the bough producing stands,” says Aurelio. “This is done by establishing fixed radius plots in the tree stands of the desired tree species. The information obtained is used to determine the presence of needle diseases, bough density, annual tip growth, needle color and bough harvesting height. During harvest, we look for good color and good needle retention.”
Immediately after harvest, boughs are kept in coolers to keep them fresh. Then they are sold and shipped out to decor manufacturers. The season is short, but requires contractors and their crews to work quickly and efficiently.
“The demand at Christmas time is intense,” says George Brulotte, Senior Development Manager for Rayonier. “It’s short and intense. Most of the harvesting season takes place from mid-September to mid-November. With harsh winters known to our area, crews will often find themselves battling snow and icy conditions, or getting snowed out of the forest. Timing is very important in this industry.”
How boughs are sourced for the holidays
As it does with other forest products, Rayonier contracts with companies like Mount Saint Helens Reforestation to produce, collect and extract boughs from our working forests.
Several techniques are used to harvest the boughs. They are extracted during mature harvests and during thinning operations. In another method, tree topping, large sections of branches are removed from the tops of mature trees. But the most common method is pole cutting.
Working among stands of trees ranging from 10 to 20 years of age, harvesters will use 10- to 30-foot-long poles. The tools have a cutting shear on one end and are operated with a rope from the ground. Sections of branches are cut off of certain species of trees, measuring between 18 to 30 inches long.
“As the timber is growing, we’re harvesting boughs,” explains Gus Gerrits, Business Development Manager at Rayonier. “Once the trees reach a certain age, the harvest teams go out and do a first harvest on those trees.”
Sustainable cutting practices are important to the current and future health of the trees. According to Gus, harvesting should be “off collar,” meaning you only remove the tips of the branches so that the tips will grow back. If done properly, the new growth can be harvested again in two to three years.
“Imagine the trees at eight feet high,” says George. “The crews cut the bottom branches off, leaving a certain ratio of the crown so it doesn’t slow the tree’s growth too much. A few years later, the trees will have grown up and out more. They can go back to that same stand and harvest boughs off of those same trees again. If they do it right, you can hardly tell they harvested.”
“Bough cutting must be done in a way that allows for annual growth and development of the branches,” agrees Aurelio. “Done properly, the trees thrive, and more bough tips regenerate within a relatively short time.”
Each year, crews cut from a new section of the forest to allow for regeneration in previously harvested areas.
“They go around the forest in a pattern-like schedule,” says Gus. “This is a sustainable approach that Rayonier requires of our contractors.”
After the cutting team has cut the boughs, a gathering team creates 30- to 50- pound bales. The bales are then moved one-by-one to the edge of the road. If they’re in a steep area or far from a road, they are bundled into a 1000-pound string of bales that will be extracted by helicopter from within the stand. Bundles are then loaded into hauling vans and tractor trailers.
A consistent and sustainable forestry product
Despite recent economic downfalls, bough production and sales have been fairly stable. This is mostly due to consistent, sustainable silviculture practices and proper cutting techniques.
“There is a lot more to bough production that the industry is learning about,” Aurelio says. “New practices are being developed for the sustainable creation of bough producing stands. Furthermore, new creative decorative designs are being introduced to the market every Christmas season.”
To learn more about other Rayonier forest products businesses, visit https://www.rayonier.com/our-businesses/land-resources/.
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