BETHLEHEM, Pa. — With only a week to go before the big day, you're running out of time if you haven't set up your Christmas tree.
But don’t worry if you’ve procrastinated. There still are options for fresh trees across the Lehigh Valley.
"Business for fresh Christmas trees has been 'up and down' this year, with a strong opening weekend following Black Friday, then some gentle tapering off."Greg Umlauf, owner, Pine Brook Hollow Christmas Tree Farm in Emmaus
The battle between plastic and real Christmas trees will continue indefinitely, with live tree proponents pointing out that they absorb carbon dioxide and emit fresh oxygen, while also stabilizing soil, protecting water supplies and providing refuge for wildlife, according to the Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association.
They’re both renewable and recyclable, too.
But ask any Christmas tree farmer in the Lehigh Valley about the benefits of a real tree, and they’ll tell you there’s just something nostalgic and memorable about it: the smell of evergreen, the feel of real pine needles, the adventure of locating and cutting down the perfect tree for you and your family.
So if you’re still waiting on that fresh-cut tree, they're still out there. But first, you may want to take a peek at what the market is like.
A good year for greenery
Greg Umlauf, owner of Pine Brook Hollow Christmas Tree Farm in Emmaus, said business for fresh Christmas trees has been “up and down” this year, with a strong opening weekend following Black Friday, then some gentle tapering off.
Unangst Tree Farms owner Roger Unangst said his East Allen Township property actually had a pretty good haul this year, enough to stay open even longer into the season.
“It’s been real good," Unangst said. "We actually have more trees this year than we had last year. This is the first year in four years that we didn’t have to close early.”
He said the farm will stay open up until Friday, Dec. 20.
“Ten years ago, our biggest weekend was like the second weekend in December. But now our biggest weekend is that first weekend when we open, Black Friday weekend.”Unangst Tree Farms owner Roger Unangst
Unangst said business has been pretty strong this season, echoing Umlauf’s comment on Black Friday weekend hitting peak sales.
As to why the timing for Christmas tree shopping has moved into the end of November, Unangst said he isn’t quite sure, but it certainly has caused a shift.
“We don't know if it was the four years of shortage that caused other farms to close, including us, that moved people to buying trees up closer to Thanksgiving,” Unangst said.
“Ten years ago, our biggest weekend was like the second weekend in December. But now our biggest weekend is that first weekend when we open, Black Friday weekend.”
Nevertheless, sales continue throughout December, Unangst said.
Adult children coming home from college may want to partake in the family tradition of cutting a fresh tree, or perhaps some people simply push it off in lieu of shopping for gifts.
Whatever the reason, there still are plenty of trees to be chopped down and trimmed to the brim.
John Curtis, who co-owns The Perfect Christmas Tree Farm in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, with his wife Cynthia, said this season has been “about the same as most years I’ve grown Christmas trees,” a career he’s maintained since the 1970s.
No impact from drought — for now
Thankfully, Umlauf said, this year's drought had practically no effect on his stock of trees. In fact, he said he had no concerns over the dry fall and how it would affect the evergreens.
Turns out, we won’t see the impact for at least seven years or more, as the young trees that are planted at the farms tend to be around three years old, and take six or seven more years to grow to full height, Umlauf said.
Nevertheless, some fresh tree fans have held out on picking up their pine for fear of it drying up and dying early, though Umlauf assures that his trees will last.
“This is my 40th year of growing trees, and I’ve never had a dry fall as bad as this one.”Unangst Tree Farms owner Roger Unangst
“There's a fair amount of people who are coming in late to buy a tree a little bit later, so it holds up," he said. "We haven't had any problems for any of trees we've sent out."
Unangst said his crew began the year very carefully, keeping an eye on the crop to determine whether anything was awry since the dryness of the fall.
“This is my 40th year of growing trees, and I’ve never had a dry fall as bad as this one,” Unangst said.
“So we were very cautious on telling people to buy their trees early. We were trying to get people to buy their trees a little later.
"And starting in mid-November, we started cutting just a few of our trees, and we literally abused them.
"We let them sit in the sun, to see if there was going to be any retention issues, and we didn't see any. I mean, it's the people that bought trees that first opening weekend, they're still happy with their trees.”
Thankfully, Curtis said the drought didn’t affect his operation, though he did caution that the impact of the drought may show itself in the future crops.
“I heard of a grower in Tamaqua that had 10 acres of Canaan fir back in the 1990s, and they all died from drought,” Curtis said.
Popular picks and care tips
Popular picks this year include 6- to 8-foot Canaan firs, which Umlauf said he’ll have in stock for the rest of the week.
Unangst said most of his customers veered toward the classics.
“Our No. 1-selling tree is a Douglas fir," he said. "The Fraser fir is rapidly becoming the most popular, and then there's a few other firs that we grow that certain people like them."
Unangst said the farm still has a good supply of Douglas firs, but other varieties of fir are running a bit low.
As for his most popular pick this year, Curtis said his customers tended to go for the Nordmann fir.
“I guess it's the most popular for us because nobody else grows it," he said. "It's the most popular tree in Europe. It has stiff branches, so you don't hang an ornament on it and have it hang down.”
Those looking for something a bit different from the normal lot might also enjoy an Arizona Corkbark fir, Curtis said, as it has the look of a Blue Spruce without the prickliness, and it’s able to hold its needles longer.
And while trees will react differently to their new indoor home, the impact isn’t necessarily standard, so it helps to talk to the people at the farm for care tips if you want to extend the life of your Tannenbaum.
Classic tips for keeping trees
Curtis offered up a classic tip that many people tend to forget — you have to make certain to shave a bit off the base of your tree just before planting it in the stand. That way, it takes up water.
That's true even if you plan on setting up right after you get home from the farm.
“You can't let the water in the stand go below the cut of the tree, the bottom of the tree. If it does, it seals again in a matter of hours. It'll seal again and won't take up water."Greg Umlauf, owner, Pine Brook Hollow Christmas Tree Farm in Emmaus
Umlauf said he’s still surprised that some people miss out on one vital care routine integral to keeping that tree alive and well.
“One thing I'm trying to spread the word on is that you can't let the water in the stand go below the cut of the tree, the bottom of the tree," Umlauf said.
"If it does, it seals again in a matter of hours. It'll seal again and won't take up water.
"And it’s surprising, the number of people who aren’t aware of that. They think there's a little bit of water in the bottom of the stand, the sap dries and just won't take up water again."
After all, you do want your Christmas tree to last into the New Year, don’t you? Or maybe Valentine’s Day?
OK, that might be pushing it.
