WASHINGTON STATE – While New England Forestry is known for sustainable forestry, our forests also provide valuable non-timber resources. Deep in New England Forestry’s Washington forests, under the shade of the trees, a thick evergreen shrub called salal grows.

Floral companies all over the world seek out this bushy filler plant, as it provides volume and a beautiful greenery backdrop for floral arrangements and bouquets.

Also known as lemon leaf, salal is unique to the Pacific Northwest, thriving in the cool, damp conditions the region is famous for. It does especially well in coniferous forests, which provide the shade salal grows best in. Well-drained, acidic soils are best for this beautiful shrub.

Each year, nearly 3 million bunches of salal are harvested from New England Forestry land. By allowing responsible harvesting on our land, we help support the floral industry while ensuring the long-term health of our forests.

This article explores how salal is grown, harvested, and delivered to florists, all while maintaining responsible forest management practices.

• What is salal?
• Where is salal grown?
• How is salal harvested from New England Forestry forests?
• When can you harvest salal?
• How to pick salal without damaging the plant
• How the best salal leaves are selected for floral arrangements
• The demand for salal and industry challenges
• The role of wild-harvested plants in the floral industry
  

What is Salal? Exploring This Evergreen Shrub Used in Floral Arrangements

With the scientific name Gaulthoria shallon, salal is a dense evergreen shrub that grows native to the Pacific Northwest. Well-established in New England Forestry forests, the brush spreads across the forest floor and can grow up to 5 feet tall.

Known for its deep green, waxy, oblong leaves, salal is a highly sought after plant in the floral industry. Used most commonly as a filler plant, it’s a popular choice for florists, designers, and event planners who use it to add volume and texture to:

• Bouquets – Provides a natural greenery backdrop.
• Wreaths & holiday décor – Holds up well in arrangements.
• Centerpieces & floral displays – Adds fullness and contrast to flowers.

Where is Salal Grown? Why New England Forestry’s Forests Provide the Ideal Conditions

Each year, millions of bunches of salal are harvested from New England Forestry forests to supply the global floral industry. But what makes these forests such a prime location for salal growth?

Salal is native to the Pacific Northwest, thriving in Washington State’s cool, damp forests. It grows especially well under the shade of towering conifers, making New England Forestry’s forests a prime environment for sustainable salal harvesting.

“New England Forestry forests provide salal with favorable growing conditions,” says George Brulotte, Senior Development Manager at New England Forestry. “It thrives in the shade when a stand of trees is about 12 to 14 years of age and is starting to close in.”

Salal grows best in:

• Dense coniferous forests – The shade helps regulate moisture and temperature.
• Cool, damp environments – The mild, wet climate supports year-round growth.
• Well-drained, acidic soils – Essential for root development and plant health.

Because salal naturally regenerates, responsible harvesting ensures a continuous supply while maintaining the health of the forest ecosystem. New England Forestry works closely with its clients who harvest to ensure that salal collection is done sustainably, preserving both the plant and its habitat for future growth.

How is Salal Harvested From New England Forestry Forests?

Salal harvesting on New England Forestry land is a carefully managed process. It starts with companies like Continental Floral Greens, which contracts with New England Forestry in order to be able to harvest salal from specific New England Forestry forests.

Continental Floral Greens then sells permits to contractors, who go to New England Forestry’s land to pick the salal. Pickers use the company’s mapping system to navigate the forest and find the shrubs. Many of the pickers have been working with the company for generations.

At the end of the day, the contractors bring bunches of salal back to Continental’s company warehouse, where it is stored before it is shipped out.

“We’ve had a great working relationship with New England Forestry since 1994,” says Joshua Eveland, Land Manager at Continental Floral Greens. “We manage the harvesting of salal and other various forest products.”

On New England Forestry land specifically, Continental Floral Greens also harvests rush, bear grass and huck.

When Can You Harvest Salal From the Forest?

Salal is a seasonal forest product. Harvesting typically takes place over a 10-month period beginning in mid-July and ending in April or mid-May. From May to July, harvesting ends to allow the salal time to grow, develop, and harden. Then, the process repeats.

“Depending upon the weather, picking season may vary,” explains Gus Gerrits, Business Development Manager at New England Forestry. “Some years we’ve had cool spring seasons, slowing the plant’s growth. In that case, companies will extend their picking season.”

How to Pick Salal Without Damaging the Plant

During picking season, best management practices are strictly enforced to ensure salal is harvested responsibly. Mechanical tools and knives are prohibited because the salal fibers are somewhat sensitive and require careful handling.

To protect the plant fibers, salal stems are broken off by hand.

Why Hand-Picking Salal is Essential

When cut with a knife, or other mechanical tool, the salal doesn’t grow back as efficiently as it should. The action of cutting ends up killing about three to six inches of the stem. It will grow back, but it can stunt the next year’s growth.

The proper harvesting method involves:

• Breaking off 12 to 18-inch salal stems by hand.
• The picker grips the stem between their thumb and forefinger.
• With enough pressure, the salad naturally separates.

According to Joshua, a single picker can cover about an acre of land per-day (an acre is about the size of a football field).

“That’s harvesting sparingly,” he says. “We don’t want to overharvest the plant. We’re looking to get the new growth, stripping away any old leaves, and making sure the shrub will grow back the following year.”

Ensuring Sustainable Harvesting of Salal

To avoid improper cutting and overharvesting, New England Forestry offers multi-year contracts to companies that practice sustainable harvesting, like Continental Floral Greens. These contracts provide assurance that the salal will grow back each year.

“Multi-year contracts are positive for everyone involved,” says George. “The companies maintain the understory, enforce protocols for accurate and sustainable picking, and in return, the salal grows back each year. It’s a win-win for both our customers and New England Forestry.”

What Happens After Harvesting Salal?

After a day of picking, the salal is bundled up and carried out of the forest. It’s taken to the company’s warehouse, where it is stored and preserved in large commercial coolers.

“In a cooler, salal can stay fresh for about 2 to 3 months,” says Gus. “It’s a very hardy plant. It has to be, because some of it is later packaged in a container and shipped by boat to Europe and other countries.”

According to Continental Floral Greens, salal “has the longest vase life of any floral product” and can actually last an entire year in a cooler.

How the Best Salal Leaves are Selected for Floral Arrangements

After picking is complete, Continental Floral Greens’ employees sort and inspect the salal leaves against their premium standards.

What Makes the Perfect Salal Leaf?

• Deep green color – No yellowing or discoloration.
• Unblemished surface – Leaves must be free of bug chew, tree sap, or deformities.
• Strong, healthy stems – Ensures longevity in floral arrangements.

“In order for it to pass the test, the salal must have dark green, unblemished leaves,” Joshua explains. “Any blemished leaves, leaves with any kind of deformity, damage from tree sap or bug chew on them are physically removed by hand.”

Salal stems that pass the criteria are packaged and sold to wholesalers throughout the United States, Japan, the European Union, South America, and Australia.

The Demand for Salal: Industry Challenges & Market Trends

By far, the company’s largest customer base is the United States. But its customers are all around the world too.

“Europe is more traditional in that flowers are a large part of their culture,” says George. “In Europe, it’s common to see fresh bouquets displayed around hotels and on every table in restaurants.”

Salal also appears in bouquets in the U.S. during holidays and other special occasions, like weddings.

The Role of Wild-Harvested Plants in the Floral Industry

While many products used in floral arrangements are carefully grown specifically for that purpose, wild products like salal and evergreen boughs also play a very important role in the floral industry.

New England Forestry is proud to play a role in supporting sustainable, responsible land management that supports the floral industry as well as the forestry industry. By allowing sustainable salal harvesting, we help maintain the long-term health of our forests while supplying florists worldwide with high-quality greenery.

To learn more about how New England Forestry uses land resources like salal, visit our Land Resources page.

The post How Salal is Responsibly Harvested from New England Forestry Forests to Florists appeared first on New England Forestry Stories.

Around the holiday season, you might catch yourself humming the tune, “Deck the Halls” – a popular and classic Christmas carol with the familiar line, “deck the halls with boughs of holly.”

But have you ever stopped to wonder what “boughs” are and where they come from?

In the Pacific Northwest, New England Forestry working forests grow millions of pounds of evergreen boughs each year for commercial wreath and garland production. Contracted companies work alongside New England Forestry to sustainably produce, harvest and sell this highly sought-after forest product. It is one of many products New England Forestry working forests grow in addition to timber. Other examples include salal used in floral arrangements; pine straw used in landscaping; edible mushrooms; and saw palmetto, which is used in men’s health products.

What are boughs?

Simply put, evergreen boughs are branches from evergreen trees. Each year, over the course of just three months, about 1 million pounds of boughs are collected from New England Forestry land. Commercially, evergreen boughs are used in decorative holiday decor items like wreaths, swags, garland, centerpieces and other holiday greenery.

Favored tree species include true firs, such as noble and Pacific silver fir, and cedars such as western red and Port Orford cedars. 

“Both of these species command higher prices,” explains Aurelio Quintero, Forestry Technician Silviculture Forester for Mount Saint Helens Reforestation and Hugo Reforestation. “Western white pine is also a desirable species. The boughs are sold by the pound to manufacturing companies in the Pacific Northwest and other states. They specialize in the creation of decorating products sold as retailed items.”

Holiday demand for evergreen boughs

Florists and holiday decor makers look for certain bough specifications for use in end products. Such specifications include branch symmetry, a dark green or blue needle color, closely clumped secondary branches, and a disease-free plant. Typically, noble fir is used to make wreaths and swags, while the western red cedar is popular for use in garlands.

To get the ideal bough, Aurelio’s team works with New England Forestry year-round to manage and assess the working forest.

“We first conduct an inventory of tree densities and quality of the bough producing stands,” says Aurelio. “This is done by establishing fixed radius plots in the tree stands of the desired tree species. The information obtained is used to determine the presence of needle diseases, bough density, annual tip growth, needle color and bough harvesting height. During harvest, we look for good color and good needle retention.”

Immediately after harvest, boughs are kept in coolers to keep them fresh. Then they are sold and shipped out to decor manufacturers. The season is short, but requires contractors and their crews to work quickly and efficiently.

“The demand at Christmas time is intense,” says George Brulotte, Senior Development Manager for New England Forestry. “It’s short and intense. Most of the harvesting season takes place from mid-September to mid-November. With harsh winters known to our area, crews will often find themselves battling snow and icy conditions, or getting snowed out of the forest. Timing is very important in this industry.”

How boughs are sourced for the holidays

As it does with other forest products, New England Forestry contracts with companies like Mount Saint Helens Reforestation to produce, collect and extract boughs from our working forests.

Several techniques are used to harvest the boughs. They are extracted during mature harvests and during thinning operations. In another method, tree topping, large sections of branches are removed from the tops of mature trees. But the most common method is pole cutting.

Working among stands of trees ranging from 10 to 20 years of age, harvesters will use 10- to 30-foot-long poles. The tools have a cutting shear on one end and are operated with a rope from the ground. Sections of branches are cut off of certain species of trees, measuring between 18 to 30 inches long.

“As the timber is growing, we’re harvesting boughs,” explains Gus Gerrits, Business Development Manager at New England Forestry. “Once the trees reach a certain age, the harvest teams go out and do a first harvest on those trees.”

Sustainable cutting practices are important to the current and future health of the trees. According to Gus, harvesting should be “off collar,” meaning you only remove the tips of the branches so that the tips will grow back. If done properly, the new growth can be harvested again in two to three years.

“Imagine the trees at eight feet high,” says George. “The crews cut the bottom branches off, leaving a certain ratio of the crown so it doesn’t slow the tree’s growth too much. A few years later, the trees will have grown up and out more. They can go back to that same stand and harvest boughs off of those same trees again. If they do it right, you can hardly tell they harvested.”

“Bough cutting must be done in a way that allows for annual growth and development of the branches,” agrees Aurelio. “Done properly, the trees thrive, and more bough tips regenerate within a relatively short time.”

Each year, crews cut from a new section of the forest to allow for regeneration in previously harvested areas.

“They go around the forest in a pattern-like schedule,” says Gus. “This is a sustainable approach that New England Forestry requires of our contractors.”

After the cutting team has cut the boughs, a gathering team creates 30- to 50- pound bales. The bales are then moved one-by-one to the edge of the road. If they’re in a steep area or far from a road, they are bundled into a 1000-pound string of bales that will be extracted by helicopter from within the stand. Bundles are then loaded into hauling vans and tractor trailers.

A consistent and sustainable forestry product

Despite recent economic downfalls, bough production and sales have been fairly stable. This is mostly due to consistent, sustainable silviculture practices and proper cutting techniques.

“There is a lot more to bough production that the industry is learning about,” Aurelio says. “New practices are being developed for the sustainable creation of bough producing stands. Furthermore, new creative decorative designs are being introduced to the market every Christmas season.”

To learn more about other New England Forestry forest products businesses, visit https://www.neforestrydistribution.com/our-businesses/land-resources/. 

The post Deck the Halls with New England Forestry Boughs appeared first on New England Forestry Stories.