HAMDEN, Conn. — Like just about every business, Christmas tree farms in Connecticut have changed the way they do business due to the COVID-19 pandemic: masks are required, social distancing, and no gathering inside for hot cocoa.
But the real Christmas tree industry, which has been battling increased interest in artificial trees, is glad to see that more Americans appear to be flocking to fresh-cut evergreens this season, seeking a bright spot amid the virus’s worsening toll.
It’s early in the season, but both wholesale tree farmers and small cut-your-own lots across the country are reporting strong demand, with many opening well before Thanksgiving. Businesses say they are seeing more people and earlier than ever.
As demand surges, big box stores are seeking fresh trees up to a week earlier than last year, and Walmart is offering free home delivery for the first time.
At the Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden, the owner says people are calling to see if they need a reservation. "We're trying to encourage them to come during the week when it's not as busy. But people have been good. In general, everybody is coming with a mask -- which we require."
A number of reasons are driving the uptick in interest. More Americans are staying home for the holidays amid pandemic restrictions and are realizing that for the first time in years — or maybe ever — they will be home to water a fresh-cut tree. With holiday parades and festivals canceled, stir-crazy families also are looking for a safe way to create special memories.
Plus, fresh-cut Christmas trees are largely displayed outside, and going out to find and cut one provides a family-friendly outing when many other activities have been canceled.,
Marsha Gray, executive director of the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, said, says, "Yes, it’s a product, it’s a decoration that you put in your home, but getting a real tree involves the choosing, the hunting for it, the family outing. It really is a memory maker, it’s a day you spend together, and it really becomes much bigger than the tree itself,” Gray said. “It’s really making family memories and people really seem to gravitate to that right now.”
But buying a tree early means keeping it alive that much longer. A dried-out tree can not only look bad and keep you vacuuming up dead needles, it can also be a fire hazard.
The Connecticut Christmas Tree Growers Association has some tips on choosing and caring for your live tree:
- Trees sold on retail lots in urban areas may have come from out of state and been exposed to drying winds in transit, and may have been cut weeks earlier. Ask the retailer whether his trees are delivered once at the beginning of the season or are they delivered at different times during the selling season.
- Choose a fresh tree. A fresh tree will have a healthy green appearance with few browning needles. Needles should be flexible and not fall off if you run a branch through your hand. Raise the tree a few inches off the ground and drop it on the butt end. Very few green needles should drop off the tree. It is normal for a few inner brown needles to drop off.
- If you're not putting the tree up right away, store it in an unheated garage or another area out of the wind & cold (freezing) temperatures. Make a fresh 1-inch cut on the butt end and place the tree in a bucket of warm water.
- When you decide to bring the tree indoors, make another fresh 1-inch cut and place the tree in a sturdy stand that holds at least one gallon of water. A rule of thumb is one quart of water for every inch of diameter of the trunk.
- Be sure to keep the water level about the base of the tree. If the base dries out resin will form over the cut end and the tree will not be able to absorb water and will dry out quickly. Commercially prepared mixes; aspirin; sugar and other additives added to the water are not necessary. Research has shown that plain water will keep a tree fresh.
You can find more helpful hints, and a list of tree farms across the state, at the CCTGA's website.