Christmas tree farm owners explain factors that affect the price of trees

BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WALA) – Christmas decorations almost always include putting up a tree, and there is always a market for those who prefer real trees.

Christmas tree farms across Alabama offer a variety of pine and fir trees to spruce up your home for the holiday season.

For Joe and Carla Smith, it’s about more than just selling Christmas trees.

The couple said they purchased Southern Hollow Christmas Tree Farm in Bay Minette last year and enjoyed every minute of learning how to grow and sell trees.

“We didn’t expect the big turnout, but the community, the children, families, friends, family all came. You enjoy our farm. They think it’s wonderful because we not only care for them, but also for the children,” said Carla.

Joe said they didn’t expect about 400 people to show up for the grand opening.

“We’re like, yeah, we’re going to try it and now we’re making plans for the next four or five years,” Joe said.

He explained how he managed to maintain the same prices for his trees from previous owners last year, despite increased material costs.

“Fertilizers and everything else have gone up in the last few years, so prices have gone up a bit as far as we can tell. We have kept our prices at the level at which we purchased the property. We didn’t go up this year,” he said.

He also described how weather plays a big role in the industry.

“Last year we had some problems when the drought started. We lost a number of certain tree species,” Joe said. “This year was good. We had to irrigate very little. So as long as we don’t get dry weather, the heat won’t bother most people.”

Joe said the cost of the trees depends on what type of tree it is, how tall it is, where it comes from and that Fraser firs tend to be more expensive than other trees.

Many Fraser firs are native to North Carolina, and despite the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene, the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association does not expect the impact to significantly impact the Fraser fir population this season.

Joe and Carla both said that when it comes to buying a real Christmas tree, it’s all about the experience that comes with it.

“Watching the trees grow. “You plant them in the ground, watch them grow, and then when you finally cut them and see a family take them, it’s just very satisfying,” Joe said.

“Coming out and walking around with the families, smelling the trees, picking out the tree, loading it and all the festivities that come with it all over again. It’s just perfect,” said Carla.

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