A number of factors have led to a surge in Christmas tree prices this year, from wildfires and hurricanes to more local impacts.
“We’ve had a very good year but three years ago – people don’t even think of it but we had quite a bad drought and we lost all of our young trees because if you think of it the young trees have really shallow roots. They haven’t gone deep into the ground and when there’s a shortage of rain they’re the first to go. So we planted extra the next year to make up for what we lost and had another drought and we lost all of those,” explained Marilyn DeMaria of the DeMaria Family Farm in Berlin.
A lack of rain in past years isn’t the only reason trees have taken a bit of a hit. A lot of local tree farms date their shortages back to 2008 during the economic crisis, when people weren’t buying trees, so businesses weren’t planting them. Trees take about 10 years to grow five or six feet, and now in 2018, we aren’t seeing Christmas tree supply we usually do.
It’s not all bad news this holiday season. The wet weather we go this year is actually a good thing for your Christmas tree.
Since January 1, the Hartford area has picked up 58.62 inches of rain, making it the seventh wettest year on record so far, with most of December still to come. On average, Connecticut sees just under 42 inches of rain. That exceptionally wet weather should help your tree last a bit longer into the holiday season.
“Certainly good moisture is great for the trees. It builds the moisture inside the trees so when you get it into the house it will be in great shape,” said Allyn Brown of Maple Lane Farms.
