(WBEN) - Since the end of Thanksgiving, people have been out getting their houses ready for the Christmas season with decorations, lights, and especially their Christmas trees.
Typically, the two busiest weekends for people to get their Christmas trees during the holiday season are the first two weekends in December after Thanksgiving has past. While a majority of people have already fetched their Christmas tree for the season, there will still be plenty of people heading out to their local tree farms in the coming days to get into the holiday spirit.
However, there may be some concerns this Christmas that trees, like most everything in this current economy, are rising in price, whether they are pre-cut trees or at farms where you can cut down your own tree.
While the cost of Christmas trees may be slightly up, prices may not be as high as some may make it out to be.
"Our price went up probably about $5 on a tree, and I would assume that others, I'm not sure what other tree farms do, but I think they might have gone up slightly or stayed the same as last year," said Ann Zywiczynski, owner of Country Pine Farms in Holland.
"Growers costs have gone up, and in our case, shipping costs have skyrocketed. So they have gone up a little bit, but not as much as everybody thinks they have," added Rich Warmus, assistant manager at the Northtown Garden Center in Tonawanda.
"The weather is pretty decent right now, so everybody wants a fresh cut tree. They're all out, it's been crazy these past couple of days. So demand is high right now."
There are a number of different reasons why prices for trees are up across the board, but for Christmas tree farms like Country Pine Farms, it can vary from the increases needed for fertilizer, for fuel and more.
"We have to pay more to get seedlings, if we're doing anything with groundwork like stone or anything that we're putting out in the fields or drain tile, everything has increased for us. So we have to increase our prices for our sales," Zywiczynski said. "And everything that we buy at the farm to help out, whether it's from tree stands to wreath rings to anything that we purchase, all the prices have increased dramatically. So we then, on the other end, increase our price of sales."
While prices for Christmas trees this year may be slightly up from last year and the demand remains as high as ever, the supply of trees this holiday season is in no short order.
"We have tons of trees here, there's no shortages or anything like that this year," Warmus said. "One of the most popular [trees] that we have here is the Fraser fir. Most of them are grown in North Carolina, they're very tall, they're very thin, but they're blue on one side, green on the other. They hold their needles tremendously, and it's really just a beautiful tree. You have a Douglas fir, you have a Concolor [fir], you have white pine. There's quite a few to choose from here."
"We have lots of trees, and I would say there's enough trees for anybody that wants a real tree," Zywiczynski added. "Farmers replant, when they take one tree when one is cut, they probably plant 2-3 seedlings in its place. Some people are waiting a little on their trees, maybe they were over cut on a certain kind, so they might close earlier. Others maintain their crops, so they have enough trees for everybody. But there should be plenty of trees with Christmas tree farmers for people to get their tree."
A new Siena College poll was released on Monday, with surveys showing despite the economic pinch from inflation, New Yorkers don’t plan to let it dampen their holiday spirits.
Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy told WBEN on Monday that in 15 years of polling, this is the highest level of excitement they have seen among New Yorkers.
According to the poll, eight out of 10 New Yorkers say they will be putting up a Christmas tree this year. However, nearly half of those who surveyed say they will be putting up an artificial tree rather than a real tree.
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While people admit they're turning towards artificial trees this holiday season, it is leaving those like Zywiczynski and Warmus wondering why people are mistaken about getting a real tree for their homes.
"I think a lot of people, they want to do it because it's easy to put up an artificial tree, some will get the lights on it and everything, and it's a very easy thing for them to do. But environmentally, it is healthier to get a real tree, and we have been jam-packed with people more this year than in any other," Zywiczynski said. "We ask, 'Why are you coming for a tree?', besides our customers that have come back for the last 35 years. Many people say, 'We're sick of the artificial tree, we want a real tree.' They go out to the fields, they love to start a tradition, they love to keep a tradition from the past, young couples are starting a new tradition, and they like that feeling of getting real and helping the environment."
Meanwhile, Warmus believes many people don't really understand the cost of an artificial Christmas tree.
"If you go out and look for one, which I had for a family member of mine, they start at $400, $500. You might get sick of it in a couple years," he said. "With a fresh tree, you can get a different type of tree that smells different every year, looks very different, and it's a totally different experience than you've ever had from an artificial tree."
So what other Christmas decoration essentials does both Country Pine Farms and Northtown Garden Center offer for customers this holiday season?
"We have beautiful custom-made wreaths here, custom-made snowflakes, centerpieces for your dining room tables or any type of tables. We have wonderful poinsettias, Christmas cactus, frosted ferns. We pretty much have it all. If you need it, we have it," Warmus said.
"We have a gift shop and we make our own garland from our own tree brush. We've got garland, we've got wreaths, we've got pine arrangements, we've got greenery, we grow our own winterberry," Zywiczynski said. "We sell the clusters; at first, we didn't think we're going to have them because the snow really got them down, but we're harvesting our winterberry and selling bouquets of that. We sell Christmas tree stands, we have a lot of local artisans. My gift shop is full of local people in this area that are selling everything from fresh bread, to pottery, to wooden products, to dog treats, to candles. Everything is available, and I'm strictly doing local. It's like one-stop shopping."