Thoughts of turkey will quickly turn to trees tomorrow as millions of Americans shift into Christmas mode with the “first-up” job of acquiring the season’s Christmas tree. If American Christmas Tree Association estimates are right, some 22 percent of tree-displayers will be buying a live, cut evergreen while the other 78 percent will fetch artificial ones out of storage (or buy a new one of those). The supply for both types of trees looks reasonably good this year, said Jami Warner, executive director of ACTA.
Other than some possible spot shortages, Warner said tree shoppers can expect “more retail locations offering a wider variety of trees than in recent years.” She added that Hurricane Helene-related flooding in North Carolina – a leading Christmas-tree-producing state – caused minimal loss of trees, although road access to some tree farms is still a problem. Locally, supplies of live, cut trees are looking good this year, and prices might actually be lower, if the results from last week’s huge Buffalo Valley Produce Auction wholesale tree sale in Union County are any indication.
Manager Neil Courtney said trees were going for 20 to 25 percent less than a year ago. This is the first time in years the supply is improving – especially for the most popular size of six- to seven-footers – said Gerrit Strathmeyer, president of the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association and a grower at Strathmeyer Christmas Trees in York County. He says tree numbers.
