<P> Contractors begin soliciting ornaments for the trees along the Pathway of Peace about the same time, usually around a theme . Other vendors begin contacting nationally known singers, performers, and the providers of children's characters (such as Warner Bros. Animation, Sesame Workshop, or The Walt Disney Company) for their availability . Various contractors build the decorations, depending on what is required . In 2000, Brilliant Electric Sign Co. of Cleveland, Ohio, spent four weeks building the 200 ornaments required for that year's display . Many of the decorations in 2000 and 2002 were manufactured with the same high - tech plastic used to make the faceplates of astronaut helmets . </P> <P> During the summer, National Park Service workers apply a pesticide to the tree to kill red spider mites (which can kill evergreen trees). The tree is also checked so that rodents do not take up residence in its roots or branches . The tree is pruned yearly, and fertilized every three years . </P> <P> The 8 feet (2.4 m) high Fraser Firs for the Pathway of Peace are cut in early November . </P> <P> Hargrove Inc., a company which provides trade show and custom exhibits, begins decorating all the trees with the lights and decorations about 10 days before the tree lighting ceremony is set to occur . (As of 2001, Hargrove had decorated the tree every year since 1954 .) The lights and decorations do not actually hang from the National Christmas Tree itself . Rather, they hang from guy - wires which run up the sides of the tree . In 2008, it took 15 people to decorate the tree . </P>

Where is the christmas tree located in the white house