Real tree options dwindle
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| After cutting down their Christmas tree at Eckert Orchards in Belleville last year, Sean Powers (left) and Jim Powers of Ellisville, Mo., carry it back to a wagon that will transport it to the Eckert parking lot. |
"There's a million reasons. I love the smell and I don't care what kind of (an artificial tree) you get you're not going to get the same kind of smell," said Kathy Toohill, a resident of Granite City and a self-proclaimed live-tree enthusiast.
"I enjoy picking one out, and my son takes me out to as many tree lots as I need to pick out a tree," said Toohill, 63."It's one of my favorite parts of Christmas. There's just nothing to me that would compare to the real tree. I have had artificial trees and I have hated every one. I would do without before I'd go back to an artificial."
But it is getting a bit more difficult for fans like Toohill to find their tree each year.
At one time, service clubs used to sell real Christmas trees as a fund-raiser for various causes. In recent years, however, there appears to be a drop in organizations using tree lots as a fund-raiser.
Other local Christmas tree farms have closed as the land became more valuable for development than for growing trees.
Consequently, large retailers like Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Lowe's have absorbed a bigger share of the real tree market.
In Edwardsville, however, the Lions Club still makes a go of its lot, which generates money to buy eyeglasses and hearing aids for children. In recent years, the Lions Club's has been set up on the parking lot of Shop n' Save off of Illinois Route 159.
"Every year we sell 525 trees," said Rosemary Bratten, a spokeswoman for the tree sales committee. "We begin selling our trees on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We've sold out as quickly as 14 days.
"We've been doing this for 47 years. We have people come to us and tell us they've been buying trees from us for 40 years. They know where the money goes and they like the idea of supporting a good cause.
"Besides that, we have really nice trees. They're not cut too far in advance and not sprayed with anything to make them look greener. They're just naturally nice and green. We have Douglas Firs, Frazier Firs, Scotch Pines and Balsam firs."
Bratten said the Lions Club lot not only serves a good cause, but it also offers a more quaint atmosphere than a large retailer.
"I think it seems more old fashion, more traditional," she said. "We do things like give out Christmas cookies and now and then, we'll get a visit from Santa."
For service organizations like the Lions Club, selling real Christmas Trees can be a labor-intensive enterprise.
"We get our Christmas trees from a grower in Wisconsin," said Bratten. "One of the problems we've run into is finding enough help to unload the trees and set up the lot. We've solved that problem by getting a sheriff's work detail to do the unloading. These are people that have gotten into some trouble like speeding or missing a court date and they need to work off fines."
For others, getting the live Christmas tree means a trip to a farm.
Mike Vetter and his wife, Terry, have operated Holiday Forest Christmas Tree Farm in Alton for the past four years, buying it after its previous owner put it up for sale in 2003.
Mike Vetter said that the decision to get into the Christmas tree farm business was not for profits, which he said can be fairly limited.
"It's not a nest-egg," he said.
Vetter decided to raise Christmas trees because he loved the way the trees brought families together and the way picking out a Christmas tree excited children. His farm tries to enhance that experience for each child, going as far as to give a free book to each child who comes with their family.
"We just want them to have fun while they're out here," Vetter said. "It's just another thing to remember."
The farm raises four kinds of trees: White Pine, Douglas Fir, Norway and Concolor trees. They order Frasier Firs and Scotch pines from other farms if a customer wants something Mid-western weather cannot grow.
"It's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun right now," he said.
The 12.9-acre farm has about 3,500 different pine trees on hand, with about 1,500 grown enough to harvest. The farm sells about 300 different trees each year.
He said the decision to buy the property came after years of family tradition, coming and buying Christmas trees there.
"Probably the first time I came out I told my wife, 'If I ever get the chance to get something like this, I'm going to get it,'" he said. "Lo' and behold, I heard it was for sale. We were out here five minutes and I told my wife, 'We gotta have it.'"
After having a fairly calm first two years, the extreme weather over the past two years has been difficult for the farm. Weather in 2006 and 2007 killed significant portions of young trees planted by the farm.
"Last year was rough. We planted 300 trees that spring and we lost almost all of them," he said.
Though they were better prepared for the 2007 season, he said they still lost about half their trees.
"The ones that make it, they'll be OK," he said.
Vetter said that a live Christmas tree can brighten up a home.
"It can have the pine smell and the color but it's not a Christmas tree," he said.
Nationally, there are many reasons people search for a live tree.
"Consumers who buy real Christmas trees consistently list tradition and family memories as the main reason," said Rick Dungey of the National Christmas Tree Association, which is headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo.
"Putting up the tree is a way for people to do something as a family. A Christmas Tree also brings a touch of nature indoors. Some people find the aroma of a live tree really pleasing. Other people buy a real tree because they care about the environment."
Dungey pointed out that real trees are a renewable resource, while artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics and in some cases, metal toxins such as lead.
Concerns over lead content may be especially high this year since more than 90 percent of all artificial trees are manufactured in China, a country whose product safety record has been badly damaged by a series of recent toy recalls.
"I was talking with a reporter last week who said a retro aluminum tree had these words on it's packaging: 'Better for the environment because no tree has to be cut down,'" said Dungey. "Of course, it came in a cardboard box. The hypocrisy is astounding."
According to statistics provided by the United States Department of Agriculture and the NCTA, for every Christmas tree harvested in the winter, there are three seedlings planted the following spring.
Approximately 30 to 35 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year by about 21,000 commercial growers. Although Christmas tree growers can be found in all 50 states, the top producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington.
On an average, it takes seven years to grow a tree that is six or seven feet high. The top selling trees are Balsam Firs, Douglas Firs, Fraser Firs, Noble Firs, Scotch Pines, Virginia Pines and White Pines.
While Dungey said there is no shortage of Christmas tree growers in the nation, in the Metro East, the numbers appear to be dwindling.
According to Bob Wiswall of Crain's Tree Farm and Nursery of Caseyville, changing lifestyles could be a contributing factor in the decline of the local Christmas tree industry.
"People are busier these days and they want things right now," said Wiswall. "They want things pre-lit, pre-hung and mess free. We used to sell cut-your-own trees, but we phased that out about three years ago. Last year, we stopped selling pre-cut trees. The one thing we still do is sell live trees that people plant in their yard after the Christmas season is over. We have 20 or 30 people that do that every year."
More significantly, Crain's exit from the Christmas tree business coincided with the boom in the Metro East housing market.
"We found that we needed field space for our landscaping business," said Wiswall. "With all the new housing going in around the area, it's hard enough for us to grow trees fast enough for developers."
Yet for devotees like Toohill, an artificial tree just isn't a reasonable alternative, no matter how difficult it is for businesses to grow real ones.
"One year we bought a tree and by the time we got it home, there was not a single needle left on it. We didn't get a new one. We just kind of decorated the love seat that year. It never occurred to me to get an artificial tree," she said.
E-mail: asudholt@yourjournal.com or jcampbell@yourjournal.com
