On the Twigs of a Dilemma : Holiday: Christmas tree shoppers face the problem of choosing between pre-cut, artificial, living and cut-your-own types. Here’s some help.
It’s that time of year again, time to participate in a tradition that dates back about 1,200 years, to when St. Boniface Christianized the Germanic Teutons and introduced ceremonial fir trees to replace the sacred oak of Odin.
That’s right. It’s time to get a Christmas tree.
About 33 million Christmas trees are expected to be harvested and sold in the United States this year, and while many families have long since settled the question of what kind of Christmas tree to buy, for others it’s an annual dilemma. Should we get a pre-cut tree? A living Christmas tree in a pot? A cut-your-own tree? An artificial tree?
There are advantages, and drawbacks, to each.
Artificial trees. The main drawback to owning an artificial tree in California is that it can make you feel lonely. According to the National Christmas Tree Assn., 80% of Californians who buy Christmas trees buy real ones, a higher percentage than in any other state, and far higher than the 47% of all Americans who choose real trees over artificial ones.
“Artificial trees? In California? You gotta be kidding,” says Christmas tree lot manager Sean Alarid, 22, who was sitting in a car at J’s Christmas Trees on Balboa Avenue in Northridge, waiting for his first shipment of cut trees to arrive by truck from Oregon. “People here don’t even ask about ‘em. People here want real trees.”
True, shelling out an average of about $100 for a suitable artificial tree may be cheaper in the long run, since it can last seven or eight years or longer, depending on how careful you are with it. But your California friends may call you a Philistine behind your back, and if you want that fresh, piney, Christmas tree smell, you may have to use one of those pine-scented car fresheners as an ornament.
Living Christmas trees. In recent years there has been a small boom in living Christmas trees--that is, potted evergreen trees with roots--primarily among people who think it’s less wasteful than chopping down a tree. Living trees now account for up to 7% of the Christmas tree market.
“The people who buy these (living trees) are mostly what I call ‘earthy people,’ organic types,” says Scot Hunter, manager of the Armstrong Garden Center near the corner of Balboa Boulevard and Lassen Street in Northridge. “A lot of them will take them out to the forest after Christmas and plant them. They like the idea of replacing a tree. Other people keep them out in the yard and then use the same tree every year.”
Living trees aren’t cheap, costing anywhere from about $13 for a tiny, two-foot-tall tree to $150 or more for a six- or seven-foot tree. And some people in the Christmas tree industry--particularly those who sell pre-cut trees--say a living tree may not be living for long.
“The majority of them die,” says Stu Miller, founder of Stu Miller’s The Price Is Right Christmas Trees and a 30-plus-year veteran of the Christmas tree trade. “The trees go into shock when you keep them inside. It’s just too warm for them.”
(There’s a story, perhaps apocryphal, that you hear bandied about in the Christmas tree industry. It’s about a guy who allegedly got rich selling big, beautiful living trees at a roadside stand for $150 each. Later, after Christmas, the buyers found that despite all the watering and care they gave the trees, they invariably died. Finally someone examined one of the trees closely and discovered that it was simply a cut tree stuck into a pot.)
Cut-Your-Own Trees. Although Christmas tree cutting is prohibited in the Angeles National Forest and other public lands in the Los Angeles area, a lot of people still enjoy the idea of cutting down their own tree. To fill that need, there are a number of “cut-your-own” tree farms in the area. In the San Fernando Valley, most of them are located under high-voltage power lines.
“It’s like you’re out in the forest,” says Kelli Santori, 11, a volunteer at Michael’s Tree Farm, situated on a five-acre lot on a power company right-of-way near the corner of Lassen Street and Reseda Boulevard. “You get to yell ‘Timber!’ ”
“Everybody always yells ‘Timber!’ ” says Jeri Carter, manager of Michael’s, where for $32 you can cut your own Monterey pine. (Portions of the proceeds from tree sales go to a nonprofit group called United Kids Foundation.) “Kids, grown-ups--of course, grown-ups are really just big kids. It’s all part of the fun.”
If you’re looking for a more rural cut-your-own experience, you can try Holiday Forest Ranch in Moorpark, where you can cut your own Monterey pine for $3.50 per foot in height. (Monterey pines are the primary cut-your-own variety, since they can thrive in Southern California, while other common Christmas tree varieties such as Douglas or Noble firs cannot.)
“It’s a lot funner,” said Ryan Allois, 12, of Moorpark, who with his mother Patti and three siblings was sawing down a Christmas tree at Holiday Forest Ranch this week. “And you get to pick the one you want.”
Pre-cut Christmas trees. According to Bryan Ostlund, executive secretary of the Pacific Northwest Christmas Tree Assn. in Salem, Ore., pre-cut Christmas trees still account for about 80% of the “real” tree market despite competition from living and cut-your-own trees. Actually, Ostlund and others in the Christmas tree business prefer the term “fresh cut”--although with Christmas trees, like fish, “fresh” is a relative term.
“These trees were cut about four days ago,” Stu Miller says of the trees on his lot at the corner of Victory and Balboa boulevards in Reseda, one of 31 lots that his company, Miller & Sons Christmas Trees, operates throughout Southern California. “Some people will cut earlier, but we like to wait till the last minute.”
Like most Christmas tree retailers, Miller sells mostly Douglas firs, which cost about $20 for a five- to six-footer, and Noble firs, a pricier tree that costs about $35 for the same size. Prices vary from lot to lot, and Christmas tree retailers insist that waiting until the last minute to buy won’t get you a bargain. When pressed, however, they admit that if you come in on Christmas Eve they’ll knock a few bucks off the price--if they have any trees left.
Surprisingly, even in tough economic times in Southern California, Miller says the Noble is gaining on the cheaper “Doug fir.”
“The Noble has always been the Cadillac of Christmas trees,” Miller says. “When people want to move up, they go to the Noble. I’d say it’s gaining on the Doug by about 3% a year.”
And is it possible that if economic times get even tougher, Southern Californians might abandon Christmas trees altogether? Not likely.
“We’re not saying we’re recession proof,” says Ostlund, “but there’s just so much history and tradition attached to the Christmas tree that people are going to continue to buy them. They may cut back on the price a little bit, but the economy would have to be really, really bad to cut the Christmas tree out of the budget.”
Christmas Tree Tips Taking a few simple precautions can help keep your Christmas tree fresh and safe throughout the holiday season. Where will it go?: Decide where your tree is going to go before you buy. There’s no sense buying a 10-foot tree for a room with an eight-foot ceiling. Making the cut: As soon as you get home, lop a few inches off the bottom of the tree, or have it done at the lot, then go straight home and put it in water. A fresh cut on the bottom allows the tree to drink water. Preservatives: Add preservatives to the water to keep the tree fresh as long as possible. Heaters: Don’t put your tree near a heater-not only for safety’s sake, but also to keep the tree from drying out. Thirsty trees: Trees can drink up to a gallon of water a day. Keep the water coming.
