This is not the year to procrastinate buying a Christmas tree. Whether you’re seeking a live tree or an artificial one, availability of either type may be an issue.
Fewer live trees
According to Kevin Pahl, organizer of Greenville Christmas Trees’ pop-up event at Arran Farms in Easley Nov. 26-28, he contacted more than 100 tree wholesalers starting in January to secure a supply of Fraser and Balsam firs to sell at the event.
“It was unbelievably difficult to get trees,” Pahl says.
The situation was even more dire for Scott Wagner of Christmas Hill Tree Farm in Spartanburg County. He contacted more than 20 growers in western North Carolina and Tennessee to secure Fraser firs this year but was unable to find any.
Wagner says he still has white pine, cedar, Leyland cypress and Carolina Sapphire cypress trees to cut in the field, but will likely sell out within the first two weekends after Thanksgiving.
Pahl says during his search for live trees, he learned that the housing market collapse in the 2008 recession led many landscaping companies to sell their ornamental trees as Christmas trees. This led to a glut in the Christmas tree market that caused many tree farms to go out of business.
Since trees can take as long as 10 years to mature enough to harvest, that supply shortage is still playing out.
Growers and retailers say the bottom line this year is don’t delay shopping for a tree.
“If you procrastinate this year, you may end up going without,” Wagner says.
Artificial trees going up
According to the American Christmas Tree Association, artificial tree retailers are reporting raising prices by as much as 30% due to supply chain issues.
Christmas tree fast facts:
- Fraser firs are the most popular Christmas tree in the U.S.
- Live trees can cost upwards of $65 depending on type and height
- A live tree can be an indoor fire hazard, so be sure to keep it watered throughout the time it is in your home
