Year Round Christmas Trees

The holidays are over and your Christmas tree may already be on it’s way to a recycling center, but for one family planting Christmas trees is a way to make a living.

Greg Slaughter is the owner of GTB Nursery in Dudley. His family has been in the Christmas tree business for 37 years and with retail lots across Middle Georgia, the holiday seasons are rough.

Slaughter says, “It’s pretty tough living out of a motel. We put in long hours, we start at about 7 in the morning and we finish up about 10 or 10:30 at night.”

He stays in motels for almost the entire month of December while his wife and sons stay home in Dudley.

“We like to be home with the kids at night,” said Slaughter.

The replanting of the trees starts the first of February. Slaughter says, “Sometimes it takes more labor and certain times of the year it takes no labor.”

The typical age of the trees range from 3 to 5-years-old. The trees are sprayed for weeds and diseases, in addition to undergoing a fertilization program. Shaping takes place twice a year.

Slaughter says the business is a way to give his kids things he didn’t have growing up.

The nursery allows people to choose and cut their own trees during the holidays. Pre-cut trees are sold at various retail lots in Macon, Warner Robins, Gray and Dublin.