WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Worries of a national Christmas tree shortage came to be since the fall time, and one northeast Ohio Christmas tree farmer is seeing the concern may have been warranted.
This time of year, Jeff Greig spends most of his days carrying, trimming and shaking trees.
What You Need To Know
- Some Christmas tree farms are selling out of trees early in the season
- People who waited later to get real trees may have trouble finding what they’re looking for
- Trees can lose their freshness once they’re cut meaning they may not last the whole holiday season if got early
”And then it’s ready to go into somebody’s car,” said Jeff Greig the co-owner of Greig Christmas Tree Farm.
In October, Greig walked through tree lined acres of his Christmas tree farm in Ashtabula County, Greig Christmas Tree Farm, tagging trees to be cut down in preparation for Christmas. Now, almost mid-December, he’s sold out.
“Thankfully, we sold all of them but we were, we were in the hundreds of trees that we sold,” said Greig.
Greig said it’s both good and bad to be sold out so early in the season — good because he now gets to focus on family.
“My wife kind of looked at me and we were in the kitchen and she says ‘oh you’re home now,’ you know. So it’s one of those things and it’s just kind of like life gets back to normal a little bit,” said Greig.
But it’s also bad because trees start to lose their freshness once they’re cut.
“We always like trees going up a little bit later rather than earlier, especially for people that like to extend the season into January. Because, like I said the trees eventually stop taking water and depending on how warm people keep their house and things like that, you know, eventually it’s going to start dry out a little bit. It’s just the natural process of the tree,” said Greig.
Greig also said it could hamper the plans of people who planned to get their tree later so it could last later in the season.
“They’re going to have to look a little harder,” he said. “They may not find exactly what they’re looking for. You know, people that are looking for a big tree for example, may have a difficult time finding one.”
Greig said his family was able to secure their own trees before selling out. His siblings and their mother have their trees already. He said his wife and kids will have an extra special tree this year.
“When my daughter was in kindergarten she brought a seedling home from school and we just planted it right in the front yard by the porch,” said Greig. “Well it’s grown every year. It hasn’t died or anything and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger and we’re finally to the point where we either have to cut it and discard it or we’re using it for the Christmas tree this year and that’s what we’re going to do. So it’s a little bit of a wild tree and all of that.”
Greig is happy people are buying real trees again and has a reminder for them.
“Water your tree every day,” said Greig.
