If you’re still looking to buy a real Christmas tree for your living room after this weekend, you may be out of luck, as many farms are running out of trees earlier this season.
David Brandt, owner of Holmes Farm in Kennebunk, is still selling trees, but he’s contemplating closing for the season within a week because he’s getting close to running out of stock.
“It used to be that Thanksgiving weekend wasn’t your busiest time of the year,” he said. “Now, it’s flipped.”
The issue, according to Jim Corliss, spokesman for the Maine Christmas Tree Association, is not a shortage of trees, but a shift in the markets and a growing interest in having real rather than artificial trees to decorate.
“There is an increased demand (for real trees),” he said.
Corliss said he doesn’t know of any organization that tracks how many real trees are sold each year in Maine, but said the Great Recession is likely having an impact on supplies now.
From 2008-2011, Corliss said, a lot of farmers went out of business or planted fewer trees. It takes about a decade for a planted tree to mature, he said, which means the industry is feeling that decade-old pinch right now.
“That comes home to roost in about 10 years,” he said.
Corliss said the timing combines with a shift in interest in live trees. Since the 1950s, he said, more and more people have bought artificial trees.
“Our industry has not done a good job of promoting our product,” he said.
That has changed in recent years, with a new marketing program by the Christmas Tree Promotion Board, a national nonprofit dedicated to North American Christmas tree growers. Those efforts, he said, are spurring demand, which is leading smaller farms to run out of trees earlier in the season than usual.
“The primary supplier you’ve always used may not have (a tree) this year,” he said.
The association lists more than 100 farms on its website, and many have already indicated that they have closed for the season.
On Tuesday afternoon this week at Holmes Farm in Kennebunk, business was relaxed but brisk. Peter Brewitt, a member of the farm staff, said on the weekends — gesturing to the road — one might see parked cars “out of sight in both directions.”
Even during the week, he said, it can be busy.
“We’ve had several weekdays where we’d sell 60,” he said.
Brandt said his farm, which has 20 of its 65 acres dedicated to growing Christmas trees, has been selling the trees since 1987. In a typical season, he said, the farm sells about 2,000 trees.
In recent years, Brandt said he has noticed a shift in timing. People are worrying more about finding a tree before all the farms run out, so many have opted to buy their trees as early as Thanksgiving weekend.
“The demand is occurring earlier in the year,” he said.
Greg Keller, 70, and his wife, Elizabeth, 70, of Biddeford, picked up a tree at Holmes Farm Tuesday. Greg Keller said he noted other smaller farms had already run out.
“In different places, we looked around, and they were done,” he said.
Elizabeth Keller said the couple used to buy their tree closer to Christmas, to ensure it would last into January before drying out.
“We used to get them later but we were afraid they’d run out,” she said.
Brandt said he thinks another driver of interest is the pandemic. Many families, he said, will be staying home this year, and want a tree to gather around. Others are simply looking for a fun outdoor activity.
“It’s the one thing that people feel they can do as a family safely,” he said.
Brandt said he’s seen other farms open for the season before Thanksgiving, but he’s resisting that. Trees only last about four weeks before becoming too dry to keep indoors, so cutting and selling them before Thanksgiving is not ideal, he said.
