Alan Walter

Submitted by: Alan Walter, the Timken Company

Alan Walter

Alan Walter of Carrollton laughs as he explains he is "an accidental Christmas tree farmer."

He says it all started in 1960 when his parents, as newlyweds, bought a farmhouse and a small parcel of a land that had once been part of a larger farm.

He grew up in the farmhouse and enjoyed the surrounding woodlands.In 1994, Alan, who works at Timken, got a chance to purchase an additional 33 acres of the original farm, which he says he eagerly did to keep it from being developed.

While walking his newly purchased property, he found he enjoyed looking at the 1,300 young blue spruce, Norway spruce and Fraser firs and decided to find out how to care for them.

"I began mowing, pruning and attending meetings on conservation and management ...I didn't know I'd enjoy it as much as I have," he admits, adding, "Working in the trees gives me a chance to enjoy nature and feel like I'm doing something productive that will also make people happy."

As Alan learned, there's more to it than just planting a tree and watching it grow."I have planted 600 trees since 2001, but at least half have died to either too much rain or drought, so I have about 1,000 growing right now."

He explains that soil conditions and types help the farmer decide which type of species to grow.

"Spruces are kind of out of vogue right now because they are prickly, but they are the only species that I've found will grow in my soil.I've tried to grow Fraser firs, but they are sickly.I like blue spruce because they are great for ornaments, the branches are very stiff so they can hold a heavy ornament.Some of my customers like them because they are so prickly that a pet won't mess with the tree's ornaments."

Alan also has his own style of pruning Christmas trees.
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Alan, who has been selling Christmas trees since 2000, smiles as he explains, "I do it because I'm into family times, enjoying the holidays and I guess I just like to make people happy.
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Alan's "seedling dream" of purchasing part of a family farm, has continued to grow, as today, he is president of both the Carroll County Farm Bureau and the East Central Ohio Forestry Association.He invites anyone who has an interest in learning more about hardwood tree farming or forestry conservation to attend the East Central Ohio Forestry Association's monthly meetings which are held the first Wednesday of each month at Atwood Resort at 7:30 p.m.