Christmas tree growers in Carroll and Howard say demand for real trees remains strong

Christmas tree growers are in the midst of a busy holiday season, as families flock to get the perfect centerpiece for their holiday decorations.

The demand for real trees has been strong, according to growers in Carroll and Howard counties, with many families bringing a tree home before Thanksgiving.

Though other areas of the country faced a shortage of Christmas trees this year, due in part to wildfires in Canada and severe drought conditions, it seems local growers have been spared.

“We have a lot of 9-foot trees out in the field,” Ronnie Sewell, owner of Sewell’s Farm in Taneytown, said this week. “We’ve had a brisk business. It actually started the Saturday before Thanksgiving. People want trees for Thanksgiving.”

Sewell said he’s been noticing a new trend in recent years.

“People are celebrating Christmas on the Thanksgiving weekend now,” he said. “Ten percent of the trees I sold were for Thanksgiving. It’s a different trend.”

Sewell owns a 125-acre farm on Harney Road, with 40 acres set aside to grow Christmas trees. Families can cut their own trees or purchase a pre-cut Fraser fir, blue spruce, Canaan fir, white pine, Concolor fir or Douglas fir.

There were plenty left as of Wednesday.

“We plan to stay open until Saturday the 23rd,” Sewell said, “or until we run out.”

Christmas trees are big business. About 30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, and there are close to 350 million Christmas trees currently growing on U.S. farms.

For every Christmas tree harvested, about three seedlings are planted the following spring, the association’s website states. The average growing time for a tree is seven years, however, it can take up to 15 years for a tree to reach full growth.

The cost of a Christmas tree varies, depending on its height, and whether it’s pre-cut or not.

There are about 15,000 farms growing Christmas trees in the country, according to the association.

Greenway Farms Christmas Trees, in Woodbine, is one.

Owner Mike Healey said in an interview Tuesday that he’s already sold 800 trees this year, with another 300 to 400 still available. Healey predicts he’ll be sold out before Christmas Day.

On his 12-acre farm, Healey grows Canaan fir and Fraser fir. Pre-cut trees are available, or families can cut their own.

“We have saws, golf carts [to drive out to the fields], all you need are your gloves,” he said.

They even supply the string needed to tie a tree to a car roof.

“We shake and bale them up for people,” said Healey, who’s been busy at the farm for several months.

“We had a lot of photographers come that do family photos here at the end of October,” he said.

Christmas tree lots offering pre-cut evergreens have also seen brisk business this holiday season.

“We sold a lot more trees earlier than we have in prior years,” said John Payne, owner of Big John’s Christmas Trees on Ridge Road in Mount Airy. “We’re doing very well. We probably won’t make it to Christmas. We’ll be definitely sold out.”

Christmas trees are not just a business for Payne, they’re a decades-old family tradition.

“I started selling Christmas trees with my dad in Columbia when I was 8 years old,” Payne said. “I’m 33 years old now. My grandfather started selling trees in the 1960s outside of Baltimore. It’s a long-time family business.”

Payne has an uncle who owns a Christmas tree lot in Elkridge, and a cousin operating one in Columbia.

“It’s in my blood,” he said. “I’ve done it so long. It’s such a good time of year. It’s awesome that I get to be part of other people’s family traditions. It’s really cool.”