The pandemic is putting on rush on Christmas trees this year — and if you want a live one, act now, because the greenery is going fast.
“It’s crazy … we’re twice as busy as we were last year at this time,” said Joan Fleming, who owns Saanichton Christmas Tree Farm.
“People just want to get happy, have a positive attitude and start their Christmas early.”
Adding to the urgency is what looks like a perfect storm of high demand and a short supply caused by drought, forest fires and a dwindling number of tree farms.
Kim Frocklage, who has been organizing Christmas tree sales for the Braefoot Community Centre over the past 25 years, placed her orders in August for about 1,200 trees from several Island, B.C. and Oregon farms.
“That’s it, I can’t get any more,” she said Thursday. “I was lucky to get what I got.”
Braefoot expects to sell about half of the entire lot over the next four days. After opening on Friday, it’s been a steady flow of customers buying everything from $45 Douglas firs to $120 Noble firs.
“It’s been really, really busy,” Frocklage said. “And it’s because of the shortage of trees and the pandemic. Everybody is having their own tree in their own household doing their own Christmas this year.”
The Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association says its farmers anticipate a record sales year, calling it simple supply and demand: a shortage of trees coupled with a greater appetite from people hoping to liven up their living spaces amid widespread stay-at-home orders.
The association said the Christmas tree market is still feeling the effects of the Great Recession, which put many U.S. growers out of business and led others to reduce planting. Since saplings take eight to 10 years to reach the size of a typical Christmas tree, the effects of the lower supply have only recently emerged.
Forest fires in Oregon and drought throughout the Pacific Northwest have also curtailed supplies, as have the retirements of several long-standing Christmas tree growers.
In turn, the shortages are pushing prices higher.
Farmers say trees are retailing for about $5 more this year, continuing a trend of several years. The average price of a tree more than doubled to $78US in 2018 from $35 US in 2013, according to the latest data from the U.S. National Christmas Tree Association.
Mike Gogo, who operates a Christmas tree farm and timber operation in Nanaimo, said drought over the past three years has diminished some supplies of trees, but the farm made major changes last year to alleviate the problem.
The Gogo family, which has been selling trees for 91 years through five generations, dug reservoirs to collect water from seasonal creeks on their property. He hired extra staff to water the trees, spraying from the top of the tree down. Gogo said this technique ensures maximum absorption and healthier, faster-growing conifers.
The farm sells about 3,000 trees a year wholesale and from its lot, plus hundreds of others through its “you-cut” program. All trees are $30 each.
This year, Gogo is shipping about 1,000 trees to seasonal charities such as schools and churches that sell on private lots or through retail outlets on the south Island.
“It’s not a big mark-up business,” he said. “The charities can make some money.”
Fleming, who has been farming Christmas trees for 42 years, believes she has the inventory to satisfy the demand. She doesn’t do wholesale, selling directly to consumers.
She said Thursday her Saanichton operation has sold about 200 trees so far and crews are cutting a truck load every day at her 50-acre property at Shawnigan Lake.
“These are fresh local trees,” Fleming said. “Companies like Home Depot have their trees cut in October, mostly in the U.S. The people I’m seeing want to shop local. They want trees where the needles don’t fall off when you get it home.”
dkloster@timescolonist.com
— With files from The Canadian Press
