Words and pictures by Debbie James
It takes 12 long years to grow a fir from seed to point of harvesting and the odds are not favourable that the tree will even reach maturity given the vagaries of the weather, a highly destructive pest known as the balsam woolly adelgid and rustlers to contend with.
But since selling his first tree in 2006, Rob Morgan is a master at dealing with those challenges.
With 400,000 trees growing across 100 acres at Three Crosses near Swansea and annual sales of 20,000 – 30,000, Rob’s business is among the largest in Wales.
For anyone who loves Christmas, the vista of rows of Fraser firs jostling for position as far as the eye can see is certain to add to the magic.
Bringing joy to visitors
Then there is Rob’s herd of reindeer – 45 at the last count – and the incredible Santa’s grotto at Poundffald Farm, alive with every perceivable Christmas character.
It brings joy to the thousands of visitors who flock to the farm to buy their tree and soak up the Christmas experience, seven days a week from the end of November, but it takes a sound work ethic, resilience and vision to achieve that.
Vision is what started Rob on this journey.
The farm background
He is the fifth generation of the Morgans to farm at Poundffald. The generations before him ran it as a mixed livestock farm, they even had two abattoirs.
But when Rob returned to the farm after working on farms in New Zealand and studying agriculture at the University of Winchester, the market was changing.
“There was a lot of volatility in the market, one week you would go to the market and get a good price for your lambs, the next week the price had plummeted, there was no consistency,” he recalls.
The first Christmas tree
As is true of every farmer, he wanted the business to be viable and saw a brighter future in commercial Christmas tree production. “I was 21 and persuaded dad to give me a field to plant trees.”
Rob admits that he approached that first attempt with a certain degree of naivety because along came the rabbits and chomped their way through the tasty tender shoots.
But he had done his research and, while economics have forced farming operations to cease on many of the working farms on the Gower, his business has thrived.
Courage
It took courage though as he didn’t achieve a financial return for eight years after planting his first saplings. “A lot of the trees don’t make it even after a lot of time and effort, but it is a great business to be in.”
Rob buys seed from Canada and America and outsources their germination and first four years of life to a nursery in Kent.
The saplings, by then a foot high, are planted at Poundffald where they grow for another eight years.
Rob spends a lot of time among the trees. Just two minutes of pruning can add £10 to the value of a tree, but in the wrong hands that job can wipe off £100.
Then there are the rabbits and aphids to control. “It is a 52 weeks a year commitment, you can’t take your eye off the ball,” he says.
In recent years, one of the greatest challenges has been the weather with some trees lost in the succession of dry summers. It will take three or four years before a tree becomes established to the point where it doesn’t rely on rainfall for survival.
Agronomy
The agronomy is no different to growing any other crops with soils tested and fertiliser and pest controls applied accordingly.
Although he has never had an infestation, Rob’s greatest fear is the balsam woolly adelgid which can completely destroy a crop but with restrictions on the products that can now be used to control these it is a constant worry.
Rob grows Fraser firs, a variety favoured for its slim stature. “People want narrower trees these days,” he says.
The variety is non-drop, important given that some people like to buy their tree weeks before the big day itself. “Some people will buy in mid-November but, because we cut our trees late, they do last,” Rob explains.
It is what differentiates a farm-fresh tree from imports sold at other outlets. “Those have often been cut four or six weeks before they even get to the store,” says Rob.
Challenges
Apart from the weather and pests, one of the greatest challenges, in common with other farming sectors, is labour availability. Rob employs five full-time staff and takes on another 50 or so in November and December when the farm and grotto open for business.
But he has a good team and for that he is grateful. “The success of what we do is a tribute to our staff.”
The majority of sales are wholesale – it is not uncommon for six articulated lorries loaded with trees to leave the farm daily from mid-November, many of them destined for high-end garden centres in London.
Supplying Downing Street
Rob’s trees have also been a regular feature in Downing Street after being selected through a competition run by the British Christmas Tree Growers' Association.
“I have met four Prime Ministers,” says Rob, who visits Number 10 for the switching on of the Christmas lights.
But while he enjoys the pomp and ceremony of that, it is his customers that he most enjoys spending time with.
“It is lovely to see families coming to the farm year after year, walking down to the fields to choose their tree, and to visit the grotto.”
There are trees to suit all budgets, from as little as £10 to £400 or more for the big display trees which can be found in cathedrals and city centres around the UK.
Other diversifications
It is not only trees that Rob grows – he also grows sunflowers, lavender and pumpkins and provides visitor experiences around those. “It has brought life back to the Gower,” he says.
In 2006 there was parking for just four cars, now he can accommodate 1,500 vehicles, such is the popularity of the venue.
The reindeer
The reindeer are an important part of the business too and they also satisfy Rob’s need to have some form of livestock on the farm.
He started off with two and gradually imported more from Finland, now making it the third largest herd of reindeer in the UK. They are a lot of work and it takes a certain skill to manage them and keep them fit and healthy.
“They are the most maternal animal I know,” says Rob. “I don’t sleep a wink in May when they are calving because I don’t want to see any deer without her baby.”
While the females are maternal, the bulls are very territorial, especially during the rutting season, as Rob once found to his cost.
An angry bull charged him and broke all his ribs after he went into a pen to release a deer who had got her head stuck.
Taking time out
Rob’s business can at times be all-consuming and, although he loves what he does, he needs to take time out to look after his mental wellbeing.
For him that involves yoga sessions and a refreshing dip in the sea, whatever the time of year. “There is no such thing as a bad swim, you get addicted to it,” he insists.
Gower Fresh Christmas Trees Farm is very much a family business, but Rob has lost both his parents - his mother, Betsan, just two years ago to cancer - and admits it is tougher without them by his side.
His father, David Morgan, had a passion for farming, and for racehorses too – among his greatest achievements was breeding the 1987 Grand National winner, Maori Venture, which was a huge highlight for him.
But Rob has a 13-year-old son, Lloyd, and together they will decorate their own Christmas tree when the time comes.
“We don’t usually get round to that until the week before Christmas because we are so busy, and it will be any tree, we aren’t fussy which one we have.”
It is 3pm on Christmas Eve before Rob can finally kick back and relax, but even that can take some adjusting to. “It usually takes a week to wind down and enjoy the peace and quiet,” he admits.
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