O, Christmas Tree: Business still booming at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor

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HAMDEN — In a far off corner of town, there's a place where the Christmas tree is king.

And it seems that no matter the economy, it's a commodity people want during the holiday season, according to Richard Jaynes, owner of Broken Arrow Nursery.

Broken Arrow is in its 65th season of selling trees and creatively decorated wreaths. "It's a long time," said Jaynes, 76. "Despite the economy we're chugging along. We're not making a lot of money ,but it's going," he said.

The first evergreen trees he planted were ones he received as a prize for a 4-H project when he was 11 years old. He planted them on the outskirts of the small apple orchard his father had on Brooksvale Avenue.

The Jaynes family has 25 acres off Broken Arrow Road that is part-nursery and part-tree farm; it also sells trees from an 18-acre tract off Evergreen Avenue. The Evergreen Avenue location will be closed Christmas Eve day, but people can get trees on Broken Arrow Road until dark.

Broken Arrow is known for growing a wide range of trees and nursery plants. It also is specialized in growing the mountain laurel, the state's flower.

Years ago, people were partial to smaller trees that had wider spaces between branch levels. Jaynes can prove it because he's got samples of old tree stands that were only able to hold tree stems about three inches in diameter.

People today want trees that are taller and denser. The trees can become denser when they are pruned, he said.

"We have people who want 15-foot trees because of cathedral ceilings," said Jaynes, who runs the business with his wife, Sally, and son, Burton. At times they have as many as 19 full- and part-time employees.

Some of them are now working inside, using an assortment of plants to make wreaths with the use of wreath-making machines.

In another garage, several women were making holiday arrangments under the tutelage of Carol Hanby of Branford.

Hanby and her husband, Dr. Nicholas Nickou, have a 3-acre garden at their home and Hanby describes herself as a "pretty good customer. It's great to see a place expanding rather than going out of business."

Chris Jonientz and Marty Dauwalder, both of Hamden, were taking Hanby's workshop Tuesday. They met in a master gardener class taught by Jude Hsiang, a Broken Arrow employee. As a result, they learned about the business.

"It's fantastic. They have specimens you don't have in standard nurseries. Everything they make here is beautiful, top quality," Dauwalder said.

Broken Arrow sells trees, shrubs, woody plants and perennials. "A lot of people come from out of state to buy here. We joke that some of our neighbors hardly know we exist but they know us on the internet," Jaynes said.