Christmas tree farms in WNC get ready for busy holiday season
It's a familiar sight, now even days before Thanksgiving: Vehicles going down the road with Christmas trees tied to their roofs.
With Thanksgiving here, it's easy to get into the Christmas mood, especially with Christmas parades coming up soon. People are already out shopping for Christmas trees, and there are plenty of pick-and-choose Christmas tree farms in Western North Carolina. But with WNC not having any significant rainfall in more than a month and with the area still under drought conditions, many are wondering how it's affecting the Christmas tree growing season.
Doyce Camp has owned Camp Tree Farm in Zirconia since 1980 and said the farm always opens the Saturday following Thanksgiving. As for the drought's effects, he won't be able to tell for sure until the trees are cut.
"They're still on the stump. They're drawing water out of the ground. Once they're cut, that's a different story. As dry as it's been, I can't tell how much of an effect it's had on them until they are cut," Camp said.
Camp said he's semi-retired and has turned the business over to his son-in-law. He said he still helps and that they have sold about 600 trees a year for three straight years.
"Since I had planned to retire, I didn't replant anymore," he said. "Now that we've replanted, we're just now getting 6- and 7-footers. We're having to buy trees ourselves from a different farm to keep our customers happy. We usually get 120 or so from the other farm, and we sold those in three days last year," he said.
Sandy Camp is also a co-owner of the farm and said business has been steady for several years.
"Business has been good. The trees grow anywhere from 13-24 inches a year, so there will be a few years of growth to be done on the smaller trees. We’ve had repeat customers for years and years," she said.
Camp Tree Farm, located at 301 Cabin Creek Road in Zirconia, will open on Nov. 25.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, the state has approximately 1,300 Christmas tree farmers, growing the Fraser fir on 40,000 acres. North Carolina is second in the nation among Christmas tree-growing states.
Ellerslie McCue, marketing and communications manager for Western Ag Programs, told the Times-News on Nov. 16 that the Christmas tree farms in North Carolina continue to thrive.
"North Carolina has a lot to be proud of in terms of Christmas trees. We're the second-largest grower in the country. I was in Fleetwood, North Carolina, yesterday. At the Cline Church Nursery (in Ashe County), the family won the honor of presenting the Christmas tree in the Blue Room at the White House this year. It's on the way to the White House now."
She said in Ashe County alone, the yearly value of Christmas tree sales is $154 million.
"People ask why you should buy a real tree instead of the artificial trees. The Christmas tree industry is a green industry. One acre of Christmas trees provides enough daily oxygen for 18 people per year," she said. "They are also grown on the side of a mountain. When they are cut down, they leave all the root systems in, so they're really great at fighting erosion."
She said the WNC Farmers Market gets Christmas trees from all across the region to sell each year.
"We are one of the largest Christmas tree markets on the East Coast. We'll have trees for sale up until the day before Christmas. I would encourage people to come early for the best selections. Our growers are bringing in the trees this week," she said.
According to Heather Overton, assistant director of public affairs at the N.C. Department of Agriculture, the top five Christmas tree-producing counties in the state are Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga and Jackson.
"We have over 850 Christmas tree growers, with around 58 million trees growing on over 38,000 acres. We harvest over 4 million annually," she told the Times-News on Nov. 16. "In 2017, Christmas tree sales topped $87 million, not including value-added products like wreaths, roping and swags."
Overton said 2017 was the last time a census was conducted. She said one was done this year, but the statistics from that census aren't yet available.
Some Western North Carolina Christmas tree farms:
CAMPS Evergreens/Camp Tree Farm
Address: 301 Cabin Creek Road, Zirconia.
Website: www.facebook.com/camptreefarm.
Sandy Hollar Farms
Address: 63 Sandy Hollar Lane, Sandy Mush.
Website: www.sandyhollarfarms.com.
Boyd Mountain Christmas Tree Farm
Address: 445 Boyd Farm Road, Waynesville.
Website: www.boydmountainchristmastreefarm.com.
Mehaffey Tree Farm
Address: 24 Corner Drive, Waynesville.
Website: www.mehaffeytreefarm.com.
Moss Tree Farm
Address: 1822 Norton Road, Cashiers.
Website: www.mosstreefarm.net.
Trinity Tree Company
Address: 615 Avery Lane, Plumtree.
Website: https://www.averychristmastrees.com/.
WNC Farmers Market
Address: 570 Brevard Road, Asheville.
Website: https://www.ncagr.gov/markets/facilities/markets/asheville/index.htm.
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Where Christmas trees are being grown, sold in WNC for the holidays
