KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
Karl Webster of Liabenow Tree Farm in Cadillac drills a hole in a tree trunk for a customer Friday afternoon. Area tree farm owners and employees are predicting brisk Christmas tree retail sales this holiday season.
KRISTIN VERHAGE | CADILLAC NEWS
Trees line the lot at Liabenow Tree Farm in Cadillac.
Tall orders
By Kayla Kiley
BY KRIS VERHAGE AND RICK CHARMOLI
Cadillac News
While wholesale business may be down at some area Christmas tree farms, some tree farm owners are optimistic about the retail season that starts in full force this weekend.
And many of those interviewed said the economy hasn’t prompted them to raise tree prices.
Locals may be heading to the tree farms this weekend to pick out that perfect Christmas tree, but many farm owners have been busy these past few weeks, harvesting and shipping trees to lots throughout the country, especially to warmer locales like Texas and Florida.
Justin Bartlett, assistant sales manager at Dutchman Tree Farms in Manton, said most of its product is out long before the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
"Our busy time was in the last few weeks. Most of the people we sell our trees to are retailers, and most of them want them by Thanksgiving," he said. "Being a wholesaler, we have been busy sending 80 to 85 trucks out a day, with anywhere from 600 to 800 trees on them."
While the growing year was rough for other cash crops such as corn in some parts of the state, Bartlett said it was a great year for Christmas trees.
"It was a great growing year. The harvest was good, too," he said. "The loading and shipping season was great. Sales are up from last year."
However, wholesale business is down at Bruce Helsel Tree Farm and Nursery in Cadillac, said Bruce Helsel.
"People are watching their numbers, no doubt about it," he said. "Nobody’s buying extra trees for their tree lots."
The downturn in wholesale business, as well as Home Depot ads touting lower tree prices, is prompting Helsel to watch his retail prices.
"Yeah, I’m worried," he said. "If people say they can’t afford it, we’ll sell for whatever they can afford."
Ron Watson of Ron Watson Tree Farms in Lake City also said wholesale business is down - 6 percent from last year. The economy played a part, but he believes the economy also has had a positive effect on retail sales.
"I think the retail sales are going to be super," he predicted. "Because last year the stock market plummeted ... now everyone has had a year to recover and accept it."
Last year’s retail sales weren’t too bad because many couldn’t afford to travel at Christmas; instead, they stayed home and bought Christmas trees, Watson said.
Karl Webster of Liabenow Tree Farm in Cadillac said if business goes as well as it did Friday morning and afternoon, it’ll be a good season overall.
Sales were "real good today," Webster said after he helped a customer load his Christmas tree onto a trailer. "We sold a quite a few trees in the last hour, hour and a half."
Liabenow Tree Farm, too, reported a good harvest, he added.
"They say (the trees are) prettier than last year," he said.
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First-time tips
Linda Duddles, Bruce Helsel, Ron Watson and the National Christmas Tree Association offer the following suggestions to those buying real Christmas trees for the first time:
• Consider buying Fraser firs or certain types of balsams. They can hold their needles up to six weeks, Helsel said. Duddles said various species like Fraser firs, Douglas firs, blue spruce, Scotch Pine and Concolor firs are the popular trees.
• Get a clean, fresh tree - one without dry or dead needles.
• Shop for a tree with a specific height in mind.
• See if you can have your tree baled before it leaves the lot or farm, Helsel said. That way, the tree won’t touch the door frame as you’re carrying it into the house and drop needles in the doorway.
• Spend the extra $5 to $15 on a good tree stand, Helsel advised. Today’s trees are bigger and heavier because of the moisture that’s retained inside them, said Helsel, who’s heard numerous stories of Christmas trees falling over because the stands couldn’t sustain their weight.
• Cut about a 1/2-inch thick disk of wood from the base of the trunk before putting the tree in the stand. Cut perpendicular to the stem axis. But don’t cut the trunk at an angle, or into a V-shape, which makes it more difficult to hold the tree in the stand and reduces the amount of water available to the tree.
• Once home, place the tree in water as soon as possible. Stands should provide one quart of water per inch of stem diameter. Check the stand daily to make sure the level of water does not go below the base of the tree.
• To prevent the tree from drying out quickly, don’t place it over a heat duct and keep it away from heat sources and bright sunlight, Duddles said. Also, the association notes that using lights that produce low heat, such as miniature lights, will reduce the drying of the tree.
• Buy a tree removal bag to open and place on the floor before you place your tree in its stand, said Helsel, adding it costs $2 or $3. Once you’re ready to dispose of the tree, pull the bag up and over the tree. This allows you take the tree to the trash or to be recycled without leaving a path of dead needles and other debris throughout the house.
