COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas growers report healthy demand for fresh-cut Christmas trees this holiday season, according to a press release from the Texas A&M Forest Service.
Stan Reed, Executive Secretary for the Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association, said Christmas tree farms across the state have been busy.
“A lot of them will be sold out of the choose-and-cut trees this weekend,” he said in the press release. “Right now, everybody seems to be doing well.”
Impact from this year’s drought was concentrated mostly on seedlings, according to Reed.
Mature Christmas trees were spared major effects, but some trees may not have reached their usual height.
Fred Raley, Texas A&M Forest Service Tree Improvement Coordinator and Director of the Western Gulf Tree Improvement Program, said the most popular Christmas tree species in Texas is Virginia pine because it grows well throughout the state.
However, other species have been gaining attention around the state.
“Afghan pines grow well in Central Texas, and that’s the area from where most of the increased consumer interest has come,” Raley said in the press release.
He said the Tree Improvement Program is working to find additional species that grow well across the state to provide consumers more options when selecting live Christmas trees.
“For many families, there is nothing like choosing your own tree and having the smell and feel of a live Christmas tree,” Raley said in the press release. “It’s part of a Rockwellian view of a family Christmas that many people seem to be wanting to continue or recapture.”
For a list of Christmas tree farms across the state, visit the Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association website at texaschristmastrees.com.
