Fresh idea for Christmas grows into a thriving business

Martin Paskett and his partner Sarmit Untins have been growing Christmas trees in Denmark for the past 15 years.

It all started from a small weekend project that bloomed into a business called Spirit Xmas Trees.

“As young kids my partner and I used to buy some Christmas trees in Perth when we lived there — we used to buy these horrible old things that’s just chucked on the ground,” Mr Paskett said.

“We thought we might be able to grow something really nice and were just doing that as a side project.”

Mr Paskett’s pine trees grow up to 2.7m tall and 3m wide.

He nurtures his pine trees for several years and prunes them several times before sending them to nurseries in Denmark and Albany.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but there’s a lot of work that goes into growing these trees,” he said.

“The tree doesn’t actually come in that shape. My sons and I prune it several time a year.”

Mr Paskett said Denmark’s high rainfall had provided him with the opportunity to grow the pine trees with minimal cost.

He said he would like to invite surrounding families to come to his tree farm and choose the perfect Christmas tree.

For more information, visit facebook.com/spiritxmastreesdenma rk.