While the summer drought in New Jersey has affected many lawns, flowers, gardens, and even crops, let’s look deeper. Will this affect New Jersey’s Christmas tree supply?
In North Jersey, the summer drought has yet to affect the Christmas tree supply, said Donna Allison Cole, executive secretary of the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association and owner of Cole’s Country Tree Farm in the township of ‘Alexandria, County of Hunterdon.
She thinks South Jersey could see more Christmas tree losses than the northern part of the state.
Douglas fir (Photo credit: NJ Christmas Tree Growers Association)
“We could have a 10% loss, but that could be in general and not necessarily drought related,” Cle said. But that doesn’t mean the drought stressing Christmas trees in the north won’t show up at a later date. It is not showing yet.
On Cole’s 40-acre lot, there are 15 acres dedicated to Christmas trees. She said they had about 150,000 Christmas trees on the property.
Christmas trees are usually planted from late March to mid-April after the ground thaws after winter. This means that with the spring rains, the seedlings have a good chance of developing a good root system to get through the drier summer months.
“We just need normal spring rain conditions to carry the trees without irrigation,” Cole said.
Frasier fir (Photo credit: NJ Christmas Tree Growers Association)
At this time, in general, if there is a large loss of Christmas trees due to drought, prices will most likely be higher for consumers, she said.
In the north, there have not been many Christmas tree losses. However, Cole said, because of the demand for Christmas trees and because prices in general will be a bit higher, prices for trees on his farm will most likely go up as well.
Tim Dunne, owner of Woodsedge Tree Farm in Belvidere, New Jersey, and vice president of the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association, said the drought had an effect on newly planted seedlings on his farm, but little on large ones. trees ready to be harvested.
“The effects may differ on some farms depending on the soil type of the farm, the landscape position of the farm (valley versus hill) and the amount of rain they have had locally this summer. We expect a normal Christmas tree harvest this year. We’re hoping for fall rains to bring our soil moisture levels back to normal,” Dunne said.
Some of the driest conditions in the state occurred in Monmouth County. Jack Sangillo, owner of Anne Ellen Christmas Tree Farm in Manalapan, told Asbury Park Press that the hot, dry weather had killed some of the thousands of trees on the farm.
Cole said Christmas tree farms in Monmouth County have more of a sandy-type soil, while up north the soil is much more rocky. Rocky soil absorbs moisture better than sandy soil. So if the soil is sandy and there hasn’t been much rain, it results in a very dry farm, which is not ideal for growing Christmas trees.
Once the trees are brown, there’s no way to get them back, Cole said. All of the green parts can be cut off to make crowns, but that’s really all that can be done.
“I think we will have another fantastic season. I think the worry comes from having enough trees to meet the demand. I know last season a lot of growers closed early because they ran out of their six and seven foot trees,” Cole said.
She said the farmers didn’t want to sell their four or five foot trees. The trees grow about a foot a year, so if farmers sold them, they would ruin that year’s crops for sale.
Norway spruce (Photo credit: NJ Christmas Tree Growers Association)
Depending on the farm’s location in the state, the summer drought will affect the supply of Christmas trees this season. But Cole said even without the drought, other farms could run out of supply due to high demand for trees and the rapid sale of six- and seven-foot trees.
She advised buying Christmas trees in the first two weeks of December, in case logging operations close early.
But don’t worry, she said. In Hunterdon County, she sees no early closure. There will be enough trees for sale this holiday season as they plant every year.
Big-box stores like Home Depot and Lowes, which sell pre-cut Christmas trees, get their trees from the Pacific Northwest, Cole said. They are cut in August and September, stored in refrigerated wagons, and then shipped all over the country. Therefore, needle retention on these trees is never good, she added.
Be sure to put a freshly cut tree in the water as soon as you get it home. Add water daily to give the trees better needle retention.
Jen Ursillo is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at jennifer.ursillo@townsquaremedia.com
Click here to contact an editor about a comment or correction for this story.
