Each November, when the scent of pine fills Spinneys stores, it feels like the start of something magical. That forest fragrance comes from the Nordmann firs grown by one very special woman on the Danish coast – our long-time Christmas tree partner, Trine Grice.
I remember walking through her farm, Bjergeskovgård, for the first time – the salty air from the nearby sea mingling with the resinous scent of fir needles, gulls circling overhead, and rows upon rows of deep-green trees stretching across 30 hectares of gently rolling land. “Freedom means a lot to me,” Trine told me, smiling as she gazed across her fields. “That’s why I’ve never put up fences.”
Trine and Hugo – her faithful friend
Trine also exports her trees to Germany
Her family has been rooted here for generations. Her grandfather bought the land around 1900, when it was a fruit plantation of apples and woodland, and later added the first Nobilis firs and Nordmanns. Born in England to a Danish mother and English father, Trine moved back to Denmark when she was five and grew up riding horses across these hills, helping with the harvests and learning the rhythms of nature from her father. In 1977, aged just 23, she took over the farm – and she’s been tending to it ever since.
In those early years, she grew apples alongside Christmas trees, but by 1998, she decided to focus entirely on the Nordmann fir – a variety prized for its perfect symmetry, rich green hue and famously strong needles that don’t drop.
She grows more than 30 hectares of Nordmann firs on Bjergeskovgård
The trees for Spinneys are cut in October
“It takes about seven years for a tree to reach the size you see in store,” she explained, “sometimes up to 10 for the taller ones.”
Every May, she plants thousands of saplings – these tiny trees begin life as seeds from the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia, nurtured in greenhouses for three years before being transplanted into Bjergeskovgård’s sandy coastal soil. That soil, Trine says, is part of what makes her trees so beautiful. The farm sits just 500 metres from the sea, where the air is mild and the ground naturally well-drained.
“The trees grow slowly here, which makes their branches stronger and the shape more balanced. We’re also lucky to be almost free of frost – touch wood,” she laughs.
Trine only selects prime trees for the UAE
Trine Grice grows our Nordmann firs on the Danish coastline
Everything about her process is sustainable and hands-on. Bjergeskovgård follows strict EU guidelines for plant production, avoiding chemicals and using only organic fertiliser. Trine’s two long-time collaborators, Emil and Edith, have worked with her since 1998. Together they tend every stage of the trees’ lives: planting, trimming, shaping and cutting – a meticulous process that requires care and patience.
“The birds love nesting inside the trees in spring,” Trine says. “They’re beautiful, but they bend the branches out of shape. And don’t get me started on the hares – they adore the young saplings!”
By October, harvest season begins. Each tree is carefully selected and marked by Trine herself before being cut and laid on the ground for two days to “rest” – a crucial step that prevents the trees from going into shock. They’re then wrapped, netted and stacked into containers, ready for their 6,692-nautical-mile journey to Dubai.
“It still amazes me that families in the UAE are decorating trees that grew here on my farm,” she says.
Once they arrive in the UAE, usually by late November, the Nordmann firs continue to hold their magic. Kept cool and hydrated, they can stay lush and fragrant for up to four months – a remarkable feat for a living tree that’s travelled across continents.
For Trine, the work is never just about production; it’s about the poetry of the landscape. Each day, she walks to the top of her favourite hill to look out across her land – the rows of firs, the red-roofed farmhouse, the silver shimmer of the sea beyond. “It’s the best view in the world,” she says. “From there, I can see everything I’ve grown and everything still to come.”
