Family tradition has deep roots at Manorville Christmas tree farm
With weathered hands, Michael Koutsoubis arranged the feather-like cuttings of an evergreen tree in bunches. Silence punctuated by the rhythmic snapping of red-handled clippers, he placed each cluster between the prongs of a circular metal frame. Once prepared, he stepped on a foot pedal to trigger the metal clamp that secures the branches.
The same hands built the work table Koutsoubis and his wife, Tamara, use to make the wreaths they sell at their Manorville Christmas tree farm. The multi-acre property, Mike’s Christmas Tree Farm, is their place of business and residence.
“Where I come from, I used to like, since I was a kid, to plant trees,” said Michael, who immigrated to the United States from the Greek island Chios in 1957. “This is my happy.”
When Koutsoubis, now 87, bought 10 acres in Manorville in the 1980s, he planned to build 10 houses on it; but when local regulations changed, he learned he could build only four homes on the property.
Instead, he built two houses — one remains his own — and used the rest of the land to grow Christmas trees. He sold his first tree in the 1990s.
At Mike's Christmas Tree Farm in Manorville, owner Michael Koutsoubis and his family have been selling trees since the early 1990s. Credit: Koutsoubis Family
Having since sold half the property, Michael and Tamara live and work on 5 acres and nurture hundreds of trees.
“He’s still planting new trees every year,” said grandson Christopher Koutsoubis, 32.
Most trees here are spruces and firs that take 7 to 12 years to grow, Christopher said on a November Saturday. He pinched off a group of needles from a concolor fir, squeezing them to release the scent of citrus.
The Koutsoubis family at Mike's Christmas Tree Farm in Manorville. Credit: Rick Kopstein
When he came to America in the 1950s, he washed dishes and sold ice cream. Koutsoubis’ father and grandfather were carpenters, and so was he. He has built various structures on the Manorville property.
Christmas tree growing is a specialized segment of Long Island’s nursery stock industry, which cultivates crops like oak trees, forsythias and ornamentals, said Long Island Farm Bureau Director Robert Carpenter.
Mike Koutsoubis makes a wreath; Brothers Michael, left, and Christopher Koutsoubis, wrap a tree for customer Franklin Jimenez, of Island Park; Credit: Rick Kopstein
Carpenter stressed the importance of buying local Christmas trees.
“The farmers here are reliant upon a local economy,” he said.
Michael has faith even in the evergreens that don’t look like the stereotypical Christmas tree. Those growing crooked or missing leaves can fill out over several years, Christopher said.
“This country, it gives you any opportunity you want,” Michael said. “I never was rich, but I always pay my bills. That’s the most important thing to me.”
Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
