How to Grow and Care for Fraser Fir

If you've ever seen a live Christmas tree, there is a good chance it was a fraser fir, also known as she-balsam or mountain balsam. One of the most commercially-available holiday trees, fraser fir is used by millions yearly for trees, wreaths, and greenery. Fraser firs also make excellent landscape trees, thriving in bright sunlight, moist but well-draining soil, and mild climates.

Fraser Fir Care

The fraser fir, given the right environment, is relatively low-maintenance. Here are the main care requirements for fraser fir:

• Choose a sunny spot, though fraser fir can handle partial sunlight.
• Prepare moist but well-draining soil, ideally that leans on the acidic side.
• Water regularly while the tree is first becoming established.
• Fertilizer is unnecessary after initial planting.

Light

Providing a fraser fir with proper light conditions will ensure it grows vigorously and will help it develop healthy foliage as it matures. Fraser firs adapt to light conditions, preferring full sun to part shade. During warm summer, when the fir might experience intense direct sun providing it with some afternoon shade will improve the tree's vigor.

Soil

Giving your fraser fir good soil to call home will increase its chances of performing well for years. The species likes moist, well-draining soil with a slightly acidic pH, rich in organics. The most important thing to remember about the fraser fir, and many species in the family Pinaceae, is the growth habit of their roots.

The fraser fir has very shallow roots that do not like to compete for nutrients or space. Keeping the soil under your tree's dripline free of plants that might take nutrients and moisture away from the tree is vital to its success.

 Water

Providing a fraser fir with adequate irrigation is important throughout your time caring for the plant. When first planted, the tree will do best with a watering plan that does not allow the soil under the newly planted fir to dry completely while not being soaked. Keeping the plant hydrated like this is very weather dependent, and you may find yourself watering every few days in extremely hot weather, especially if your tree is in full sun.

In cooler, damp weather, you may need to water just once a week; let the soil be your guide. Continue watering the young tree consistently like this for its first growing season while it establishes a strong and healthy root system.

For the first two or three growing seasons, if you experience droughts or long periods of very hot weather, adding supplemental irrigation back into the mix is a good idea.

Temperature and Humidity

Looking at where the fraser fir grows immediately tells you that this tree does not like hot weather. The ideal climate for this species resembles its native habitat, with cool, damp, foggy mountainsides surrounded by other trees. While you might not live on a mountainside, you can do your best to recreate this environment by planting the fraser fir in an environment that it finds hospitable.

Fertilizer

If planted in good conditions and provided with enough water and sun a healthy fraser fir should not require any supplemental fertilizer. Over feeding the tree can create weak wood and cause the tree to grow foliage at a rate that its shallow root system cannot support, creating the perfect opportunity for tree damage after storms.

Types of Fraser Fir

Like many conifers, fraser fir has many cultivars from which landscape designers can choose to suit their functional and aesthetic needs. The selections run the gamut from dwarf cultivars to different needle colors to form varieties.

• A. fraseri 'Kline's nest': a dwarf cultivar with a compact habit that produces shorter than normal needles giving a nest appearance.
• A. fraseri' Blue Bonnet': an extremely slow-growing dwarf cultivar known for its glaucus needles and small mature stature of three feet at ten years.
• A. fraseri 'Prostrata': an old cultivar with a low, slow-spreading habit at ten years, its size averages two feet in height by four feet wide.
• A. fraseri 'Fantasticooli': slow growing and matures into a very narrow small tree.
  

Pruning

One of the best things about growing conifers is they very rarely need to be pruned and that goes for this species as well. The only real reason you should consider pruning a fraser fir is when it has some damaged or dead branches.

Pruning these types of issues on a conical shaped conifer and allowing the tree to keep its form requires removing the whole branch at the trunk, not just an end where damage occurred. As these trees can get quite large, it is usually best, for safety and aesthetics to call in a certified arborist to do the work for you.

Propagating Fraser Fir

If you are looking to propagate a fraser fir, you can grow from seed, but the results are slow and often not worth the time it takes to get inconsistent results. Rather, you should try to propagate from cuttings, which also takes some patience, as trees are extremely slow-growing.

1. Find a branch about 1/8 of an inch in diameter with new growth and cut about 5 to 7 inches of new growth off of it.
2. Remove the needles from the bottom two-thirds of the cutting and scrape away the bark exposing the fleshy part of the branch.
3. Cut the end of the cutting at a 45° angle.
4. At this point, use your pencil, stick, or dibbler to poke holes into your potting mix for your cuttings.
5. Dip your cuttings in your rooting hormone and soak according to the product's instructions.
6. Plant cutting in potting mix. Keep the mix moist and in a cool, indirectly lit area. It can take six to nine months for roots to become established.
   
7. Once roots have been established, transplant cuttings to individual pots and let roots establish in those pots for at least a year.

Overwintering

Anywhere south of fraser fir's native growing range, USDA 4 to 7, will be too warm for the species, but fraser firs growing in these chillier regions can use some assistance in winter as well.

Depending on where it's planted, fraser fir can be damaged by harsh, seasonal winds. You can protect these trees by intentionally planting them in locations with barriers, providing them with tree coverings, or using stakes to make sure they don't bend in extreme situations.

Common Plant Diseases

Once you have a happy and healthy fraser fir that has been established, it will resist most diseases and shrug off most pests as minor nuisances. The biggest concern you will face will come from two sources that can cause your conifer issues: root rot and stem canker.

Phytophthora root rot is caused by the fungus species Phytophthora. You might notice needle discoloration, having the needles turn yellow before they start to drop as the tree gets sicker. You may also notice a black or dark ring around the soil's surface. Ultimately the tree will usually die after a few years, so prevention before planting is your best defense.

Prevent this root rot by providing adequate drainage by loosening the soil around the tree's base at the planting site to allow aeration and making soil amendments before planting. Group tree and plant species by water need to avoid overwatering.

The other concern, stem canker, is more common. Luckily, mature trees can stand up to an infection, but younger specimens often die due to girdling. The most obvious sign your tree is infected will be resin ooze and black staining around branches or trunks. The cankers will most likely grow longer than wide, causing the plant to show splits on its bark eventually. Treat early with a fungicide to help stop or slow the spread.