Trimming the trees
George Joseph
Lucy watches over all the Christmas decorations in the story at the nursery.
Flocked trees at Joseph’s Nursery come in an array of colors.
Varieties of nutcrackers and Christmas decorations are available at Joseph’s Nursery.
Warm summer breezes are long gone and fall’s colorful foliage has disappeared. That might lead you to believe that this is vacation time for the owners and employees of Joseph’s Nursery & Garden Center on Rostraver Street in Monessen. Instead, the staff is busier than ever preparing holiday decorations for Mon Valley Hospital and working as hard as Santa’s elves to harvest and decorate Christmas trees for the Yuletide season.
“November and December are our busiest months of the year with Christmas approaching,” explains office manager Kristen Joseph. The 27-year-old also manages and decorates the retail store. Joseph’s is a family business, and Kristen marks the fourth generation of what was started in by her great-grandfather, George Sr., and is now in the care of grandparents, George Jr. and Alyce, plus her dad and two uncles.
“My great grandfather started the business by accident when he traveled to Ohio to visit an uncle. Before returning home, his uncle asked him to bring back a couple of blooming plants, azaleas, to see if he could sell them. When he got back, everyone saw the beautiful colors and he sold them right away.”
He returned to Ohio for a truckload and sold those. The following summer brought another truckload and requests to plant them. From there, the landscaping business began. That was back in 1954 and it’s still going strong today. “Not many get to be lucky enough to work with their family, but some are and I truly am lucky and thankful for all of them along with the other workers that are here and have been here in the past,” Joseph says. “Our success comes from the hard work ethic of our family and those in the past that helped build us into the company we are 62 years later. Even though working with my family may be hard at times, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Joseph’s Nursery has been decorating Mon Valley Hospital for the holidays for nearly 35 years. “It can be a challenge each year, but we try to get them something new every year,” Joseph says. “Whether we add some new lighting or rearrange previous decorations to create a different theme. LED lights are becoming more popular and we try to incorporate those as well.”
Last year featured a lighted balloon release plus new LED snowflakes on the parking garage that were handmade and welded by Kristen’s father, George III. Outdoor decorations include traditional nutcracker soldiers, a carriage and horses, snowmen, Santa Claus and an 18-foot artificial tree plus another tree on the roof of the hospital. Indoors, the theme changes each year. Last year’s lobby decor theme was an Old World Christmas. “We had a tree adorned with real popcorn string, tinsel icicles and traditional and bubble lights,” Kristen says. “This year will be a winter wonderland with polar bears, Eskimos and an igloo.”
Christmas décor styles have evolved over the years and the popularity of live trees has ebbed and flowed.
“We used to sell 2,400 live cut Christmas trees,” Joseph recalls. “Sales were cut way back of live trees when the artificial trees came out, so (my great-grandfather) looked for something different to bring customers back to live trees.”
That special something was a technique called “flocking.” Flock is a cotton/rayon mix combined with adhesive and water that is sprayed on trees to create a snow-like texture.
“We first put our signature hand-made stand with water bowl onto the tree and straighten it,” Kristen explains. “The tree limbs get wired up so that when the heavy flock is applied the branches do not droop. The tree is sprayed with water until it is damp. Next, a special machine blows the flocking through a hose mixing with water onto the tree. The tree is on a turntable that helps to evenly apply the flock. The same machine and turntable is used today from 50 years ago!”
Once flock is applied and still tacky, mica or colored glitter is added upon request. “This gives the tree some glisten when the lights are on,” she says. “After that, the tree is set aside to dry for at least two days.”
Joseph says they sell around 50 flocked trees each Christmas, with the most popular color choice being white. Recently, she says customers have opted for light white, which looks like a light snow has fallen on it. However, the choices don’t stop there. Customers can buy blue, purple, red or even orange flocking.
“I would say the craziest color that we have done would be black,” Joseph says. “Very rarely do we get a black tree order, but when we do, it’s usually finished with gold glitter and they decorate it with Pittsburgh sports ornaments or Monessen Greyhound black and white. We have a lot of customers that have been getting flocked trees for many consecutive years. One customer has been getting them for close to 40 years.”
The staff is hard at work now decorating and flocking trees for the upcoming holidays. “Christmas season is crazy and can be stressful but also a lot of fun,” Joseph says. “What I enjoy most about the season is to see the old and new customers visit the store and just have so much admiration for decor and decorated trees. It really makes me feel good to see what joy we can bring them just by visiting our store. A lot of the customers have been coming here for 30 years or more and can remember coming in with their parents and grandparents and remembering how much they enjoyed coming here then and now.”
Joseph’s Nursery is located at 921 Rostraver St. in Monessen. They can be reached at 724-684-7393 or online at www.josephsnursery.net.