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When families bring Christmas trees home for the holidays, most only worry about even ornament distribution or whether the twinkle lights are working.

But for Christmas tree farmers, who grow the plants for at least seven years before they can be harvested, there is an entirely different set of woes.

Fire, deer, dry weather, and a Christmas tree disease called dipolida are among them, according to Mehrl Mayne, owner of Mayne's Tree Farm in Buckeystown. Sometimes, when trees get too wet, they turn brown.

Between the planting, the spraying of insecticides and fungicides, the pruning and the worrying about everything that can go wrong is a labor-intensive process, he said.

Mayne's farm has about 50 acres of different varieties of trees, he said, some of which are easier to grow than others because they're indigenous to the area. The best-sellers out of the six types of trees he carries are Fraser Firs and Douglas Firs, he said. And while he looks for "needle retention and durability" in each tree he's growing, when it comes to customers, "it's in the eye of the beholder," he said. Some prefer softer, fuller branches while others like limbs that can handle a heavy ornament. Mayne's trees cost between $30 to $75, depending on the size and breed.

Mayne said several area families have been coming to the farm for years to cut their own Christmas trees as a holiday tradition. Robert Faircloth, a Buckeystown resident with three children, said he has been coming to the farm for his Christmas tree for at least 10 years.

"There's no [authentic] experience" if you buy a pre-cut tree from a lot, he said.

His family has even taken the tradition one step further. Faircloth said that each year since they've started coming to the farm, he cuts a half-inch off the bottom of the tree's trunk and writes the year on it. Then his kids decorate it and turn it into a Christmas ornament to hang on the next year's tree.

Area farmers say there are other reasons why fresh cut trees are superior, aside from the opportunity for family bonding. Some pre-cut trees on lots may have been cut as early as October, Mayne said, which is unsafe because they can dry out and be more prone to fire.

Michael Ryan, owner of Clemsonville Christmas Tree Farm in Union Bridge, said artificial trees aren't ideal, either. His trees are sold for $20 apiece.

"Artificial trees won't decompose in landfills for centuries. And real trees, they provide oxygen for the air we breathe while they're growing and they provide habitats for animals," he added.

Malinda Henke, a Mayne's Tree Farm customer, has another reason for sticking to the real thing.

"I like the smell of the pine," she said.

Ryan said one of his recent customers dismissed the idea of a fake tree, saying "It's not Christmas if needles don't hit the carpet."

Ryan also said he enjoys being around his customers, who are usually full of Christmas spirit when they come to the farm.

"You do get to bring joy to a lot of families," said Lori Sewell of Sewell's Farm in Taneytown. "It's a real good feeling. It's a rewarding profession."

But she reiterated that a lot of work goes into Christmas tree farming that most people don't see.

"There's an awful lot of people who think this is the only time of the year that the Christmas tree farmers work ... but the farm requires work year-round," she said. "We're working when no one's even thinking about Christmas trees!"

She described the process, which includes biannual fertilization for 70 acres of trees and unique set of duties for each individual breed. Some need spraying for mites, while others need spraying for diseases. All trees get an annual herbicide and pruning.

But different types of trees need their trimmings at specific times of the year, resulting in whole summers spent shearing. The grass that grows around the trees also needs to be mowed at least a dozen times per year, she said.

Another negative aspect of the industry is how long of a wait there is between planting and pay day, Mayne said. Sewell agreed.

"It's not something that you plant one year and get a return in the same year," Sewell said. "It's a long-term investment."

Sewell gave an example, saying that some of the farm's 12-foot trees being taken home by families this season are probably about 18 years old, which means they were seeds in 1991.

Trees of all types sell for $40 at Sewell's Farm, as long as they're 8 feet tall or shorter. Taller trees sell for $50, $60 or more.

E-mail Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@gazette.net.