FOR many families, picking out the perfect Christmas tree is a family tradition.

Harry Barker, 82, has been selling Christmas trees for 52 years now from his home at Stribers Farm, Haverthwaite.

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Mr Barker, who farms around 800 acres with his family, will bring several thousand trees down from Scotland to supply to dedicated customers from the South Lakes and to visitors from all over the world.

As we enter the last weekend in November, families all over the UK will be preparing to purchase their trees.

Mr Barker said: "It is a very special process picking out a Christmas tree and gets you in a very festive mood.

"Many couples or families will spend over an hour narrowing it down to four or five trees then retire to their car for a brew before making the final decision.

"Most garden centres just have a couple of trees out on display, but I think what people love about choosing their tree at our farm is that all the trees are spread out and everyone is welcome to rifle through them and find their perfect one.

"We are also happy for people to bring the trees back if they aren't right. Sometimes the tree can look just right when your at the farm but then doesn't fit through your door or sit right in the living room. If that's the case, we don't mind swapping the tree if someone wants to exchange it."

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association recommends getting your tree from December 1, which this year falls on a Thursday.

Mr Barker said: "From the last weekend in November we start getting people coming up to buy their trees. It can be any day of the week nowadays but when we first started selling them it would always be on Sundays, because that was usually the day people had off.

"I would call them 'bun fight Sundays' in December because we had cars backed up miles down the road and the farm was full to bursting with people."

The general consensus is that the fresher the tree, the more likely it is to last through the festive season without dropping its needles or looking a little tired.

Mr Barker likes to stock Christmas trees called Nordmann firs which are the most popular type of tree with people in Europe.

The Nordmann firs come to Stribers Farm in a vast array of sizes, from little 4ft mini trees that can fit in a flat or serve as a welcome tree in the hallway, to the 30ft giants which are ordered by local venues such as Abbey House Hotel in Barrow, The Royal Oak in Cartmel and many many more venues across south Cumbria.

Customers include the Cavendish family, whose estate is close to Stribers Farm.

Over the years, the family farm has gained fans from further afield.

Mr Barker said: "I have already had one lady from London phone to ask us to deliver five trees to a house in Cartmel just for one night for a Christmas party.

"Of course Cartmel village is the place to be these days and gets visitors from all over the world. We have also had a lady call from America, who is visiting the Lake District for Christmas and wants to pick up a tree on December 22, to decorate her holiday home."

Mr Barker's Christmas tree haven is surrounded by 16th century rustic farm buildings and frost-topped hills on which he rears sheep.

FACTFILE: TOP TREE TIPS

1. Buy it fresh - get your tree early before the trees have been left standing in the garden centre a week or longer. When you bring it home, cut a couple of centimetres off the trunk and dunk it in a bucket of water, leaving it outside until you need it.

2. Buy from a retailer who will remove it from its netting. You want to see the shape of it before you buy. Sometimes a micro-climate builds up within trees which have been netted for any length of time, which can make trees drop their needles earlier. The trees from Stribers Farm arrive in nets, then are removed from the nets so that customers can see them. Mr Barker then puts them back into a net to travel to their destination to make things easier.

3. Put the tree into a stand which can hold water. Water it regularly throughout the festive season.

4. Try to keep the tree in the cool and definitely away from direct heat. Don't place it near radiators or fires.

5. It is best to go for a Nordmann fir because they are unlikely to drop needles for the duration of the festive season and people love them because of their dense branches, uniform shape and good variety of sizes.

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