How to Grow and Care for Fraser Fir Trees

Abies fraseri

Fraser firs are, by far, the most popular species to use as Christmas trees in the United States and it’s easy to see why – just look at the shape and color.

It’s the classic tree that kids draw in school and the ones that appear on cards and art around the holidays.

Fraser firs have that perfect “Christmas tree” pyramidal shape, with sturdy branches that grow straight out or angled upwards just slightly – perfect for hanging holiday ornaments.

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The needles grow spirals, and they’re soft so you won’t be injured if you brush up against your holiday decor. Fraser fir trees also retain their needles well, even after they’re cut.

When you touch the tree, you’ll be treated to a strong resinous fragrance which is positively heavenly. When I make candles, it’s the Fraser fir fragrance that I reach for most often.

They grow well in cool climates from Zones 5 to 9, though they’ll even do well in Zone 4 with some winter protection.

Read on to learn all about how to plant and care for these wonderful conifers. Here’s what’s coming right up:

Fraser fir first grew indigenously in the southeast Appalachian mountains at high elevations, but they’ve become endangered in their native range.

In the wild, they typically grow about 30 to 50 feet tall, though a few will reach nearly twice that.

Oregon, along with North Carolina, grow the vast majority of Fraser firs in the US.

We’re talking upwards of four million Fraser fir trees in each region, accounting for over two-thirds of the country’s supply.

The species takes its binomial from John Fraser, a Scottish botanist who travelled throughout the eastern US and brought samples of plants back to Europe.

Indigenous people had been using Fraser firs for medicinal purposes long before.

The Cherokee people, in particular, valued the Fraser fir to treat wounds and ulcers, and as a laxative or for lung issues.

In cultivation, Fraser firs typically grow about 40 feet tall or less, which makes them ideal for suburban and urban spaces. They typically live about 150 years if cared for properly.

The cones grow upright from the branches, which scientists believe allows birds to eat and spread the seeds easily.

When the cones are young, they’re a beautiful purple color, which adds to the charm.

How to Grow

The fact that North Carolina and Oregon grow so many Fraser firs coupled with its original native range, gives you a big hint about the conditions and climate that this species needs.

Since they grow in the Appalachian mountains, we can surmise that they like an elevation of between 3,000 to 4,500 feet.

Fraser firs aren’t happy in higher elevations than that or at sea level, especially in warm climates.

That’s not to say that they can’t survive outside of this elevation range, but they’re more likely to grow slowly and possibly experience problems.

They’re also used to cool weather. Summer temperatures of around 70°F are ideal. In other words, Fraser firs will be miserable in hot climates. Honestly? Same.

Fraser firs are also used to lots of humidity and fog, especially during the growing season of spring and summer. So if you live somewhere dry, this species might not be the best choice.

Light

Technically, Fraser firs can start out as understory plants, receiving partial sun when they’re young.

But this can cause extremely slow, leggy growth. Aim for full sun all day or with a few hours of afternoon shade for your sapling.

Soil

Phytophthora root rot (PRR) can be a serious problem for Fraser firs. Selecting a spot with the right soil will go a long way to helping avoid this nasty disease.

Good drainage is absolutely essential, it will make the difference between success and failure.

If your soil isn’t perfectly loamy and well-draining, you can likely still find a good spot that drains better than the surrounding area.

Look for somewhere in your landscape that is slightly raised, like a small hill. A slope facing south, west, or east is an excellent option, as well.

So if you have very bad soil, it won’t help to amend the area where you plant your young tree.

The soil should be slightly acidic with a pH between 5.5 and 6.0.

Water

Fraser firs are susceptible to drought and heat. Oregon had a nasty heatwave in 2021 and it decimated the farms in the region, with this species more impacted than many other types of trees.

In the wild, they’re used to consistent moisture all year round, receiving about 75 to 100 inches of rain annually, spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

That means you need to keep the soil consistently moist for most of the year. A little drought in the summer for a few days is fine, but don’t let it go longer than that.

How often you’ll need to water depends entirely on your local climate, soil, and environment.

A Fraser fir on a south-facing slope with slightly sandy soil in a drier climate is going to need much more frequent watering than one in a flat area with clay soil and a cool, humid climate.

Let the soil be your guide. It should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge at all times.

Fertilizer

I can’t possibly emphasize how important it is to conduct a soil test. A test gives you valuable insight into the nutrient profile of your soil.

Chances are, the soil in your landscape probably has too much of one nutrient and not enough of another.

Reach out to your local university extension office and they’ll guide you as to how and where to get your soil tested.

It’s always best to use local, recommended firms because they understand the unique conditions in your area and can offer more targeted advice.

When you collect your sample, dig down about a foot. Many gardeners only test the surface, which works for annuals, but trees take up nutrients from much deeper.

You can also specify that you’re testing for growing trees and the lab can give you more specific details about your results and tailor their recommendations accordingly.

They’ll guide you about how much and what kind of fertilizer to apply.

Cultivars to Select

In addition to the species tree there are a number of excellent cultivars available as well.

If it’s the species you’re looking for, you’ll generally find saplings at plant nurseries that have a good selection of conifers or you can shop online.

Fraser Fir

You can find the species plant available at Maple Ridge Nursery and Nature Hills.

Growers have also created hybrids of A. balsamea and A. fraseri that you’ll see labeled as “frasalm.”

These make an excellent Christmas tree option thanks to their excellent needle retention, heavenly fragrance, and ideal shape.

Cut Christmas Tree

While you wait for your own to grow, you can find pre-cut trees ready to ship from places like Fast Growing Trees around the holidays.

If you want to check out something a little different from the species, here are a few cultivars to look for.

Blue Bonnet

Sometimes called ‘Wingle’s Blue Bonnet,’ this petite little cultivar has a distinctly blue hue.

The foliage is coated in the same glaucous blue powder that gives blue spruce its characteristic color. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a fir with brighter blue coloring.

It was discovered on a Christmas tree farm in 1987 and refined to the conical cultivar we know today. ‘Blue Bonnet’ only reaches about nine feet tall and three feet wide when mature.

Ford

Sure, Fraser firs are best known for their classic pyramidal form.

But if you’re after something smaller and more spreading – without sacrificing all the traits that make this species so appealing – look for ‘Ford.’

This flat-topped dwarf cultivar grows outwards rather than up and stays extremely small at just a few feet tall and twice as wide at maturity.

Prostrata

The name gives you a clue to the growth habit of this beauty.

‘Prostrata’ is a low-growing Fraser fir cultivar with a spreading habit, topping out around six feet tall, though it usually stays shorter, and up to 15 feet wide.

It’s perfect for filling in space where you want reliable year-round color without the height of a full-sized tree.

Rawl’s Dwarf

Reeseville

Ever seen a Christmas tree wrapped up for transport? That’s exactly what this one looks like. With its ultra-narrow, conical form, it tops out around 10 feet tall and just two to three feet wide.

Originally developed in 1990 by John Van Ert of Reedsville, Wisconsin at his eponymous nursery, this cultivar is often sold as ‘Reeseville Selection’ or ‘Reeseville Ridge.’

Maintenance

Fraser firs grow slowly. In the first year, a seedling may only gain an inch, and after 12 years, it might reach just eight feet.

It’s during these first few years that the Fraser fir trees are most vulnerable and need protection.

Be sure to remove any weeds that might compete for sun and nutrients.

Weeds also create the right conditions for fungal issues and they host all kinds of pests. Even grass can choke out a small seedling.

Repeated freezing and thawing during the winter can cause winter burn which results in damaged or dead needles that turn orange.

It can also kill the growing tip. If a tip is killed by winter burn, it’s best to prune off the whole branch otherwise the tree will shed the burned needles and new growth will resume in spring.

If you want to shape your Fraser fir into a Christmas tree, you’ll need to start this process when the tree is about four feet tall, or a little taller if you’re aiming for an eight-foot tree.

Cut back the leader by about six inches, then shear or clip the branch tips to refine the pyramid shape and improve symmetry. Remove any gangly or misshapen branches.

If a second or third leader tries to develop, wait until you determine which seems the strongest, and remove the weaker ones.

For landscape use, you don’t need to worry about pruning unless you want to remove unsightly or unhealthy branches.

Learn more about pruning conifers here.

Propagation

You can propagate Fraser fir in the same ways you can propagate most conifers.

Growing from seed is slow, but it’s fun and free if you have access to cones. You can also take cuttings or go the route that most people use and transplant a potted Fraser fir from the nursery.

From Seed

Fraser firs may only produce seeds every five to seven years, though typically they do so on alternate years, depending on conditions.

While you can try collecting seeds from cones that have fallen to the ground, they’re often empty or dried out by that point.

For the best results, harvest cones at their peak, usually around September, from Fraser firs that are at least 15 years old.

Here’s how:

1. Carefully pluck or snip off a sticky cone in late September or October before it has opened and released the seeds.
2. Set the cone in a paper bag or other suitable container with good airflow or hang it from a string. Allow the cone to dry until the scales open up and it falls apart when you manipulate it. Inside the scales, you’ll find the seeds.
3. Place the winged seeds in moistened peat moss in a sealed bag in the fridge for 60 days. This is known as cold-stratification, and while it isn’t strictly necessary with Fraser firs, it does speed up the germination process.
4. After two months of stratification, sow the seeds about a half inch deep in a gallon-sized pot filled with moistened agar or a half and half mix of peat moss and potting soil.
5. Place the pot in a spot where it will receive at least six hours of sunlight. Keep the soil moist but not wet.

You can transplant outside when the Fraser fir is about a foot tall, which takes two or more years.

Growth is slow for the first two to three years, but then the tree often enters a phase of more vigorous growth, adding a foot or more in height each year before tapering off again as it approaches maturity.

From Cuttings

Propagating firs from cuttings is faster than growing from seed and produces a clone of the parent plant That’s why it’s the method of choice for those looking to breed unique specimens.

However, the success rate with older wood is extremely low. You’ll be most successful with cuttings taken from Fraser fir trees that are under 10 years old.

You can try with older specimens, especially if you’re hoping to preserve a tree with sentimental value, but expect low success, maybe one viable cutting out of 10.

With young Fraser fir trees, the chances are good that most of your cuttings will take.

1. In the spring when there is new, pliable growth, take cuttings about six to nine inches long, with the cut made at a 45-degree angle.
2. Remove all of the needles from the bottom half of the cutting.
3. Fill a gallon container with potting medium and poke a hole in the soil.
4. Dip the end of the cutting in powdered rooting hormone and insert it into the hole you made.
5. Firm the soil up around the cutting. It should be deep enough to hold itself upright, but no more than a third deep.
6. Keep the potting soil moist at all times. It should feel like a well-wrung-out sponge. Don’t fertilize, and be careful not to overwater.
7. Keep the container in an area that receives at least six hours of direct sunlight.

When new growth starts to develop and the cutting stays in place when you give it a gentle tug, you can harden it off and plant it outside.

Transplanting

Whether you start your own seedling or cutting, or you purchase a young plant at a nursery, you’ll first need to decide where you’re going to locate it.

When you’ve found the right spot, dig a hole a bit deeper than the growing container and at least twice as wide.

The goal is to be able to spread out the roots a bit so they can grow out and down rather than becoming entangled or even girdling the tree.

Pests and Disease

Squirrels love the seeds and growing tips, but they won’t bother the older parts of the tree.

Deer will also browse on Fraser firs, but it isn’t usually a problem. The only time it’s a serious concern is when they start eating the young plants.

Provide protection in the form of a wire cage when the plants are young.

While the larger pests are easy to deal with, it’s the smaller ones that you need to be on the lookout for.

Pests

As the climate warms, insects are becoming a bigger problem for Fraser fir growers.

Pests that used to be nearly unheard of are now becoming common. Some are devastating wild trees and can be a real problem for your backyard tree, as well.

Adelgid

Far less common than spider mites, but much more damaging, balsam woolly adelgids (Adelges piceae) have been rapidly spreading since these pests were discovered in North Carolina in 1957.

Infested trees often die within just a few years either directly from adelgid damage or because the weakened tree becomes vulnerable to other pests and diseases, such as Armillaria root rot caused by the fungus Armillaria mellea.

Early symptoms include reduced growth, dead shoots, and swollen nodes. You may also notice white, woolly patches, these are clusters of adelgids.

The pest overwinters as a nymph before molting into the crawling phase, which is the only time they’re mobile.

Crawlers settle on spruce one year and pine the next, feeding with sucking mouthparts. Unlike aphids, they don’t move around.

After feeding, females lay dozens of honey-colored eggs. There can be multiple generations each year.

Feeding causes the wood to harden, restricting water and nutrient flow.

If you notice abnormal growth on your tree, inspect the tree closely for the woolly clusters. If present, treat in early spring before bud break.

Follow the instructions carefully and stop spraying after the buds open.

Grubs

Asiatic garden beetles (Maladera formosae), European chafers (Amphimallon majale), masked chafers (Cyclocephala spp.), May and June beetles (Phyllophaga spp.), and vine weevils (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) all feed on fir roots during their larval stage.

The grubs live in the soil and feed on roots, sometimes for years, until they mature and emerge as adults.

Root feeding leads to stunted growth both above and below ground. In seedlings, heavy infestations can cause lasting damage or even death.

If you spot adult beetles and your fir appears weak or stressed, grubs are likely present. To confirm, dig around the roots and look for the larvae.

You can help deter infestations by removing weeds and avoiding dense ground covers near the base of the tree.

For control, apply beneficial nematodes in spring or summer to target the grubs. When adults are active, treat with a pyrethrin-based spray, such as Monterey Take Down Garden Spray.

Monterey Take Down Garden Spray

You can find Monterey Take Down Garden Spray available at Arbico Organics in 32-ounce ready-to-use spray or as concentrate.

Spider Mites

The two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) is perhaps the most common pest of Fraser fir, especially when conditions are warm and dry.

These sap-sucking tick relatives draw out the sap from the needles and branches. As they do, the needles turn spotty yellow and will eventually drop from the tree.

If you see yellowing and needle drop, look closely for fine webbing and signs of the mites, which are about the size of the tip of a needle.

Check out our guide to controlling spider mites to learn more.

Weevils

The Pales weevil (Hylobius pales) targets many conifers, including Fraser firs. Adults are oval, nearly black, and about half an inch long. They overwinter on the forest floor and emerge in spring to breed.

Females lay eggs on the roots of trees and the emerging white grubs tunnel into the roots to feed.

By late summer or early fall, the new adult weevils emerge, which have brown heads and cream-colored bodies.

The adults feed on tender bark and exposed roots. If enough weevils attack a young tree, they can girdle branches or even the trunk, causing serious damage or death.

Look for signs like girdling, oozing sap, browning foliage, and fungal cankers at the base. The latter may signal Procerum root disease, which often follows a weevil infestation.

Control takes a two-pronged approach. First, you want to tackle the grubs and weevils using beneficial nematodes applied to the soil.

Triple Threat Beneficial Nematodes

Something like Triple Threat Beneficial Nematodes, available from Arbico Organics should be applied as directed in the spring.

In the summer, when the adults are active, spray with a pyrethrin-based product.

Disease

There’s only one disease that can be a major problem, and it’s a doozy. You might also rarely see armillaria root rot on trees infested with adelgids, but it’s not a problem otherwise.

Armillaria

If your tree is infected with armillaria, the trunk and roots will rot away, and you might see yellow fungi at the base of the tree. There’s nothing you can do to save a tree at this point.

Phytophthora Root Rot

Phytophthora root rot (PRR) is a serious and increasingly common disease that can destroy a tree, turning it a sickly orange in a matter of weeks.

Commercial growers anticipate that they’ll lose up to a third of their trees each year to this disease.

It’s caused by a pathogen called Phytophthora cinnamomi, which is an oomycete or water mold. This water mold can be carried in water, soil, or even on your shoes or tools, so it can spread rapidly.

Once it’s in your soil, it’s almost impossible to get rid of and can live for decades. That’s why prevention is so important.

Right now, researchers are working on breeding PRR-resistant Fraser firs, but until that happens, it’s something you’ll have to be vigilant about.

If your tree is infected, all or part of it will wilt, and the needles will take on a gray-green hue, and not in a pretty way.

You’ll also see dead branches, needle drop, delayed bud break, and slow growth. Sometimes only half of the tree will be symptomatic or it might be the whole specimen.

If you were to dig down and look at the roots, they’d be a rusty cinnamon color with black or white tips, and they might lack the fine hairy roots.

The first step in avoiding it is to always buy or take seeds, plants, and cuttings from reputable sources or healthy looking plants. If a plant looks sick, avoid it at all costs. It might not have PRR, but better safe than sorry.

Set your plant in appropriate space with appropriate drainage and soil. Heavy clay retains water, and water is P. cinnamomi’s best friend.

If you know the disease is present in your area, water using treated culinary water or well water. River water or irrigation might be carrying the pathogen.

You should also spray your tree preventatively with a fungicide that contains copper.

If your tree is infected, there’s no cure, but you can try and support the specimen with products products that contain phosphorous acid, hydrogen peroxide, citric acid, or the beneficial bacteria Bacillus subtilis or Streptomyces lydicus WYEC 108.

CEASE Biofungicide

I’m a particular fan of CEASE, which harnesses the power of B. subtilis to kill fungal spores.

You can find this product at Arbico Organics in one- or two-and-a-half gallon jugs.

You can also use the conventional fungicide Subdue MAXX.

Embrace the Fabulous Fraser Fir

I was on one of those drives, you know the kind where you’re bored out of your mind and staring out the window, checking the GPS every two minutes to see how far away you are from your destination.

Forehead against the window, I was watching the rural landscape fly past when we were suddenly smack dab in the middle of hundreds of Christmas trees.

For a second, I wondered if I’d fallen asleep and was having holiday-themed dreams. Turns out, we were just driving through one of Oregon’s many Fraser fir farms.

If you want a fragrant, beautiful conifer with soft needles and classic Christmas tree shape, you can’t find a better option.

It’s the only conifer I keep near my patio because I can’t get enough of the scent when I walk by, and I don’t have to worry about being stabbed by a million needles if I brush against it.

What is it that draws you to this tree? And how do you plan to use yours? Let us know in the comments section below!

And to learn more about growing conifers in your landscape, check out these guides next:

• How to Grow and Care for Colorado Blue Spruce
• How to Grow and Care for Japanese Black Pines
• How to Grow and Care for Norway Spruce Trees