Finding the right Christmas tree might be a little more challenging — and expensive — this year.
Fewer trees being imported from Canada is leading to a shortage of supply and higher prices, and some growers in Massachusetts say a boom in sales last year is leaving them with less product available to fill living rooms this Christmas.
C&C Reading Farm in West Bridgewater — which is already hurting this year due to rotted crops as a result of the rainy summer — usually stays open into December to sell Christmas trees, which are brought in from Canada.
"But this season, we're going to opt not to sell trees," Lynn Reading told GBH News. "A few reasons why: we ordered over 600. We may be lucky if we can get one hundred. Second reason being is cost. They're going up ten dollars a tree. Thirdly, we don't know when we can get the trees. We'd love them the day after Thanksgiving. It's a tradition for a lot of families. [Our Canadian supplier] can't give us an answer."
So they closed the doors of their farm store early this year.
You can still find Christmas trees imported from Canada at Lambert's Markets in Dorchester, Westwood and Pembroke.
"I think there's going to be a shortage for, you know, the small time guy around the corner who gets one load of trees or the guy at the end of the street, or the guy who has a gas station and wants to sell trees," said the market chain's owner, Danny Lambert. "You know, me and some of the the bigger guys will, you know, I'll have plenty of trees. The price is just high."
Lambert says Balsam firs are about 10 percent more expensive this year and Frasier firs are closer to 30 percent more expensive.
There are several reasons fewer trees are coming from Canada and they're more expensive this year, according to Shirley Brennan, executive director of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association.
First of all, she said, "Mother Nature hasn't been kind to us." An extreme frost in Quebec this year and another in Nova Scotia in 2018 damaged both seedlings and mature trees. So did extreme heat in British Columbia. It takes 10 to 12 years for a Christmas tree to grow to full size, Brennan said, and fewer were planted in 2008 because of the economic recession. Also, costs to operate a farm and transport the trees are up this year.
"The price of trees are going up because everything's going up," Brennan said. "That's not just a Canadian thing. That is a North America problem."
Christmas trees grown in Massachusetts may be in shorter supply this season as well, because of a boom in demand last year.
"Every farm in Massachusetts last year had a banner year," said David Morin, who owns Arrowhead Acres in Uxbridge and is past president of the Massachusetts Christmas Tree Association. "And the ones that didn't shut down when they had exhausted their 2020 supply are going to be short this year."
Last year, Morin said, his farm sold double the usual number of trees. He said the surge in interest was probably because, in the height of the pandemic, people were looking for fun and seasonal outdoor activities. Also, with fewer families traveling for the holidays, more of them wanted a Christmas tree at home.
"I don't think this time last year you could get on a plane and feel safe," Morin said. "So anybody that would have normally been traveling was stuck home. And they had extra time to go big on Christmas."
Morin said he's getting ready for another surge of customers this season.
"We're a little nervous. I've been trying to hire extra help so that we don't keep people waiting when they get here," Morin said. "But I'm also thinking it's going to be a little bit of a, I call it, a 'toilet paper panic.' You know, the word's out that trees are scarce and it could be a rush right from the beginning."
Casey Vandervalk said his tree farm in Mendon was inundated with new customers last year.
"That first weekend, the street was blocked with cars coming all kinds of directions. They couldn't get in the parking lot. It was the busiest ever," Vandervalk said. "And we ended up overselling our trees."
As a result, they don't have enough trees to open up this year. He said he's heard from customers who consider it a tradition to visit his farm.
"We feel bad for them," he said. "This will be the first time in 30 years of selling Christmas trees that I won't be open. But there's just nothing we can do."
Vandervalk plans to sell trees again next year. For those looking for a tree this year, he has some advice: "Don't be upset if you can't get a big one."
And if you want to avoid crowds, he said, go when it's raining or there's a football game on.
