A family-run nursery in Burnham has been helping people get into the Christmas spirit with a Santa's Grotto and an array of trees for sale.

Davies Brothers Nursery has been operating since 1995, supplying plants to the local population all year round - with Christmas being a key time for the garden centre to supply the all-important Christmas centrepiece.

The Observer reached out to the team to have a peek behind the scenes as the family firm is in full swing amid the Christmas countdown.

Trees sold by Davies Brothers Nursery are grown in the Scottish Highlands, before they make the journey down to Slough. Rob Davies opened up about the journey our Christmas trees go through before landing in our livings rooms.

He said: "In the Scottish Highlands it usually gets colder earlier and so the trees go dormant. This dormancy enhances their needle retention.

"In August, we inspect the trees and grade them for quality and height, selecting only the best available to be cut for the coming Christmas.

"We get them cut as late as possible, the trees are netted and palletised and then loaded onto articulated lorries and set off down to us a few days before we start selling.

"When the trees arrive we unstack them from the pallets and store them mostly outside in the cold to further preserve freshness.

"The trees are put into stands ready for display in our covered sales area, where our customers can view them and decide on their perfect tree.

"When they have selected the perfect tree, we trim the end of trunk and any additional trimming the customer requests and can even fit the customers own stand or one of the excellent Cinco water holding stands that we stock.

"The tree is then netted and carried back to the car."

Slough Observer:

Speaking about why Christmas trees are still such a popular tradition, Rob said: "If you have grown up with a real tree the artificial trees don't seem to do it for you. 

"Real trees, you can't really beat them for the smell and the feel of them. It is a personal thing though, you either have a real one or you're not too bothered.

"At the moment a six-foot nice premium tree is £45 which is a non-drop variety, so you don't get needles everywhere."

"The last couple of weekends we've been really busy, but we're getting to the stage where people have mostly bought them now."

The nursery estimates that they have sold around 2,000 Christmas trees this year and the levels of people getting real trees has stayed much the same. 

Having built a good reputation in the area, Davies Brothers Nursery tends to see the same returning customer each year.

"People travel from quite a way. We sell a lot of hanging baskets in the summer and people seem to come from quite a way for those.

"Those that have moved out of the area often travel back. We've got quite a spread-out customer base."

Speaking about the family business, Rob added: "It's a way of life.

"It is seasonal but it is nice to be involved with nature and growing things.

"I really enjoy it."

The Burnham nursery has also run a Santa's Grotto in the run-up to Christmas, raising money for Alexander Devine Children's Hospice Service.