WHY YOU SHOULD PLANT IT. Although it's from China and therefore not native, compact paperbark maple is the perfect specimen tree for Canadian city gardens, boasting a tidy yet dramatic profile.

You just need to get a permit from a forestry office first, at a cost of $5.25, allowing holders to harvest up to three trees, as long as they’re under 2.5 metres in height.

The Christmas tree undertaking began in the late 1990s, when those involved with the N.C. State program began identifying the best Fraser firs in North Carolina.