The Isle of Wight County Press is delighted to have teamed up with Thompson's Garden Centre to give a real Christmas tree to one lucky reader.

We have a 6ft-7ft Norway Spruce, worth around £50, to give to one reader - and it is sure to be the centrepiece of their home this year.

Thompson’s has been growing their own Christmas trees on the Isle of Wight for over 20 years.

A small team of knowledgeable, experienced, dedicated staff, led by head grower Peter, manage a 130 acre nursery that has close to 100,000 trees growing.

An example of the type of Christmas tree being given awayAn example of the type of Christmas tree being given away (Image: Thompson's)
The business is a member of The British Christmas Tree Growers Association, who believe in the sustainable farming of Christmas trees.

A spokesperson for Thompson's said: "Did you know that the trees grow from taking carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas CO2, out of the atmosphere. One Christmas tree will then release enough clean oxygen for at least 18 people.

"For every tree that’s cut, another is planted, so there’s always a constant cycle of growing Christmas trees.

"This spring we planted 7,000 Nordman Fir trees and 3,500 Spruce, some of which will still be in the ground 20 years from now.

"We buy the trees as three year old seedlings from a selected provenance. This is important because the provenance make sure we get a better quality tree.

"The seedlings are then planted in a 2 litre pot using peat free compost, grow on for a further year, then planted the following spring in uncultivated ground."

Norway Spruce is the original, traditional Christmas tree, and one of the most popular varieties.

Sizes at Thompson's range from 3ft to 12ft.

Thompson's is open seven days a week, Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5.30pm, and on Sunday from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

There is a Santa’s Grotto, with tickets available to pre-order here.

Would you like to win the Christmas tree?

Simply buy your County Press on Friday to find out how to enter.

The County Press is the UK's biggest selling weekly newspaper.