The Nichols family has been harvesting Christmas trees in Lyme for more than a half a century. Guy Nichols came to Lyme from Vermont to clear timber after the 1938 hurricane. When the trees downed by the hurricane had been cleared Guy stayed in Lyme and started Nichols Hardware [read the profile on Nichols]. A few years after he started the hardware store, Guy began harvesting Christmas trees for friends and neighbors. Guy's son Bill expanded the Christmas tree operation. For the past several years Bill's son Ben, and Ben's wife Amy have been selling Christmas trees and greens in Lebanon and Lyme.
Amy, with help from Ben and their children, Tim and Amara, sells "cut your own trees" from property owned by the Nichols family on Route 10, about a mile and a half south of the Lyme Common. Ben sells freshly cut trees at the 103 Hanover Street Plaza in Lebanon. At both the Lyme and Lebanon locations, Ben and Amy sell wreaths, Christmas greens, and New Hampshire maple syrup produced by the Nichols family. Buying a Christmas tree from the Nichols family has become a holiday tradition for many in the area, and some purchasers are fourth-generation customers of this four-generation business. If you buy a fresh-cut tree, be sure to give it plenty of water a fresh tree can slurp up as much as a quart of water in one day.
The purchase of a fresh tree is not only a beautiful aromatic gift for you and your family, it supports the local economy and is a gift to the environment. More than 90% of live trees are recycled. Artificial trees, which are made from petroleum products, have an average life of about six years, and are not recyclable; they fill up landfills. Seedlings planted to replenish the supply of trees cut for the holidays help to remove dust and pollens from the atmosphere and offer protected habitants for wild life.
