Recent flurries spark tree sales
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The annual choose-and-cut Christmas tree season got an early start as snow flurries and winter chill got people in the holiday spirit.

Ewing Harmon, president of the Watauga County Nurserymen’s Association, said he had customers Friday morning showing up at his Vilas farm to buy trees. Harmon said in his 20 years in the business, he’s always opened the weekend before Thanksgiving, though some tree growers wait until the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.

“I think it gets a little bigger every year,” he said. The nurserymen’s association published a brochure and map that lists 23 choose-and-cut farms, though some growers decided not to offer trees this year but instead let the current crop get another year’s growth.

Harmon said supply should meet demand, though. “We won’t run out,” he said, noting the early start to the year was the start of bigger things to come. “When we get snow, people really excited and start getting ready for Christmas.”

The association, along with the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, has been aggressively promoting the advantages of natural trees over artificial trees, taking advantage of negative publicity surrounding toys and other goods manufactured in China. A number of products have been recalled recently because of high lead levels or other toxins.

The associations say artificial trees are non-renewable, petroleum-based products that consume excess energy and create pollution. Real trees are farm grown like any other agricultural crop and provide environmental benefits by providing fresh air and animal habitat.

“We expect a big year, with all the concerns over toxins in artificial trees,” Harmon said. The nurserymen’s association map is available in local retail and agricultural outlets and is also available online at www.watauganurserymen.com.

Linda Gragg, executive director of the NCCTA, said she’d given away several thousand choose-and-cut brochures during a recent Christmas show in Charlotte. Additionally, holiday tourists are asking about package deals and events in conjunction with the weekend after Thanksgiving.

“Judging from the number of people asking about it, it’s probably going to be one of our better years,” she said. “If the number of calls coming into our office is any indication, it’s just going to go through the roof again.”

Gragg said several growers opened early because they had received calls from regular customers who happened to be in the area. Mac Forehand, director of the Boone Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, said there are some local hotels that have arrangements with local tree farms for package deals.