Fir trees are valued for their soft needles and attractive, symmetrical, conical, or pyramidal shapes.
balsam, Fraser, noble, and Nordmann firs arepopular Christmas tree choices.
Choose a species that is cold-hardy in your region.
The Spruce / Julie Bang
Firs thrive in relatively cool, moist conditions with fertile, well-drained soil.
Loosen compacted soils by digging in compost or other organic amendments before planting the tree.
Transplant your potted tree in late autumn, winter, or early spring when the tree is dormant.
Kitchin and Hurst/Getty Images
Here are popular fir trees for your landscape.
It is sensitive to heat and often struggles in climates warmer than zone 5.
It is not very tolerant of urban climates but remains a common choice as a landscape tree.
arlutz73 / Getty Images
Fraser Fir
John Fraser, a Scottish botanist, inspired this fir tree’s name.
Similar in appearance to the balsam fir, theFraser firis also a popular Christmas tree.
A sticky resin oozes from the tree’s bark blisters.
Gerardo Martinez Cons / Getty Images
Grand Fir
The grand fir is one of the fastest-growing and tallest fir tree species.
The 3-inch cones turn reddish-brown as they mature.
The bark is smooth and gray.
Andrea Robinson / Getty Images
It has characteristic long, shining-green needles that droop to the branches' sides.
Korean Fir
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
TheKorean firis one of the smaller fir species.
It grows slowly and fits into most landscapes.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
This conifer produces cones when the tree is less than 3 feet tall.
The distinctive cones appear in late spring and come in shades of blue or purple.
This species makes a good living Christmas tree due to its small size.
blackestockphoto / Getty Images
Noble Fir
Also known asred or white fir, thenoble firis a popular choice for Christmas trees.
Distinct tiers of branches with open spaces allow you to showcase ornaments while avoiding the appearance of bare spots.
Noble firs show attractive, smooth, silvery-gray bark with 1-inch gray-green or bright blue-gray leaves.
karayuschij / Getty Images
The cones are 5 to 10 inches long and are purple-brown when ripe.
The bark is charcoal gray.
The cylindrical seed cones are 6 inches long and dark reddish-brown.
Jeff Foott/Getty Images
The cones are blue-green when immature, with brown bracts peeping out between the scales.
Young trees' smooth, gray bark becomes rough and orange-red on older trees.
The blue-green needles are typically 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches long.
Igor Kramar / Getty Images
The seed cones are 3 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches long, yellow-green in color, ripening to brown.
This tree does not handle drought well but has good frost tolerance.
Silver Fir
Silver fir has flattened needles 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches long.
NLink / Getty Images
They are glossy dark green with two whitish bands on the bottom sides.
When mature, the seed cones are 3 1/2 to about 7 inches long, greenish and dark brown.
Historically, this was Europe’s first species to be used as Christmas trees.
Jaimie Tuchman / Getty Images
Spanish Fir
NLink / Getty Images
Spanish fir trees have female cones resembling raspberries.
The needles are very sharp, inspiring another common name, hedgehog fir.
The smooth bark is dark gray and gradually becomes rough and scaly as the tree ages.
gaffera / Getty Images
The needles are short (about 1/2 inch long) and pale green-blue.
The cylindrical cones are 3 1/2 to 12 inches long.
The bark on young trees is smooth and gray, becoming rough and scaly as the tree ages.
The flattened needles, with stripes on the undersides, range from 1/2 to 1 1/4 inches long.
This subalpine fir does well in areas with some shade.
It is also known as the Rocky Mountain fir.
It has soft, flattened pale blue-green needles up to 2 1/2 inches long.
The bark is light gray and smooth but gradually becomes furrowed as the tree ages.
A fir tree is not a pine tree, though they are both in the same family, Pinaceae.
Fir trees are of the genusAbies, while pine trees are of the genusPinus.
Both are coniferous evergreens.
Fraser and balsam firs are commonly used for Christmas trees.
Balsam is more pyramidal, while Fraser is more conical.
Balsam has a stronger evergreen scent with darker needles, while Fraser fir needles have a blue-green tinge.
Grand and Douglas fir trees look similar, although their needles look different.
Douglas firs have bottlebrush-looking branches, while grand firs have a flat plane of needles.
Grand fir grows to a towering 250 feet, while smaller types may only reach 30 feet.
Fir trees cover a wide range of heights and include many dwarf cultivars.
Fir needles are unique in that they are different than other evergreen needles.
Fir cones also sit upright on the tree’s branches.
Cones on other trees hang down underneath branches.
Holiday Season and Your Pet.University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine.
