Live Christmas trees may cost a little more this year, and you’ll want to shop early to get the size and type you want, say tree farmers.
Rolling hills of Fraser firs, Scotch pines and other favorite holiday trees await shoppers with cider, craft beer and wine afterward at Christmas tree farms in the region. Or you can simply visit your local fresh-cut tree seller. Either way, you’ll want to get there soon after your Thanksgiving feast.
“If you want a real Christmas tree, there’s plenty out there to choose from, but buyers will run into more limited selections among tree species,” said Aaron Grau, executive director of the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association.
The median price of a live-cut tree was about $80 last year with current prices expected to be about the same or a little higher. Anyone shopping at a Christmas tree farm for a specific species and size, say a 7-foot Concolor fir, will want to shop soon to find exactly what they want.
“The inventory is shallow,” Mr. Grau said.
The map on the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association’s website, christmastrees.org, shows 14 tree farms within an hour’s drive of Downtown Pittsburgh. Visit the farm’s website or Facebook page or call ahead to confirm hours of operation.
Evergreens grown as holiday trees take around eight years to grow; it’s an agricultural product subject to market demand.
Real vs. artificial
“Twenty years ago, there was a significant shift to fake trees by older people,” said Tim O'Connor, executive director of the National Christmas Tree Association. “Looking at the chart over the last 50 years, it’s not pretty until recently.”
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted live tree buyers to shop earlier, shifting buying patterns, Mr. O’Connor said.
“The industry has been swelling in the last six years with a supply matched by demand,” he said.
So why is supply a little tight? There was a glut of trees on the market some years ago that drove down prices. Lots of smaller farmers took a hit and couldn’t afford to replant as much as they would have, Mr. Grau said.
But there is no Christmas tree shortage, said Brandon Mytrysak, 38, of Brush Valley in Indiana County, a third-generation tree farmer.
“The whole shortage thing was beaten to death last year. I think you’re going to find your tree but you will work a little harder,” he said.
Christmas tree capital
Gregg Van Horn, 59, of Creekside, president of the Indiana Christmas Tree Growers Association, is optimistic this year.
Although Indiana County is no longer known as the Christmas Tree Capital of the World, as it was in the 1950s, there’s a stream of new customers, Mr. Van Horn said.
“Every year, new couples are getting married and having kids. People with kids are always the best customers,” he said.
It’s a different market, too.
In the 1950s and ’60s, most people didn’t want to go out in the field and cut down their trees, Mr. Van Horn noted.
“Now, the younger generation likes to make an event out of it,” he said.
Van Horn is also the head of Indiana County’s tourism bureau. Anyone buying a tree in Indiana can make a day of it, he said, by visiting The Jimmy Stewart Museum or the Amish community in Smicksburg.
Season opens Friday
Mytrysak is busy cutting down trees for business orders and sprucing up his farm for events featuring Santa, winemakers, craft beer brewers and more at his Mytrysak Tree Farm in Indiana County. He will begin selling trees on Friday.
The farm features tractor train rides for kids, a concession stand and events. Customers like walking in the fields or hitching a wagon ride to find their tree. They are coming earlier in the season.
“As a kid, our busiest time was two weeks before Christmas,” Mr. Myrtrysak said. “Now two weeks before Christmas, we are pretty much sold out for the season.”
Preston Fleming, 37, owner of Flemings Tree Farm in New Alexandria, Westmoreland County, has fields full of trees to cut and fresh-cut trees ready to load on top of vehicles.
His farm also offers a flurry of events, including hayrides, kids’ crafts, a visit from Santa Claus, and fresh kettle corn. Their opening day is also Friday.
Fleming admits there are fewer growers and fewer places to pick your own Christmas tree.
“But in New Alexandria, I have a great supply here with Fraser fir, Canaan fir, Concolor fir and blue spruce. We have beautiful wreaths.”
Prices are just a tad bit higher than last year, he said. A 6-foot fir will go for $84 and a 6-foot pine or spruce $72.
Taylor knows trees
If you want to find a cluster of Christmas tree farms, the highest concentration is in the central and eastern parts of the state, which is also Taylor Swift country.
Berks County is a Christmas holiday destination because of its numerous tree farms, events, shops and scenery.
“We are in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and we have beautiful mountains and tons of forest,” said Lisa Haggerty, marketing director for Reading and Berks County, Pennsylvania’s Americana Region.
That’s where Swift is from. The singer whose Eras Tour sold out two shows at Acrisure Stadium in June grew up on the Pine Ridge Christmas tree farm in Cumru Township.
“Christmas tree farms were an industry in the township for many years,” said Jeanne Johnston, Cumru township manager.
The former Pine Ridge farm hasn’t been active recently and the land has been subdivided for housing, she said.
Swifties apparently aren’t stopping by in droves, but they do make pilgrimages to Berks County to visit the singer’s former home in Wyomissing, according to Ms. Haggerty.
More visitors from New York and New Jersey are frequenting the region’s Christmas tree farms, she said, noting that she will visit her favorite Christmas tree farm early this season.
Mary Ann Thomas: mthomas@post-gazette.com
First Published: November 20, 2023, 10:30 a.m.
Updated: November 21, 2023, 10:47 a.m.
