April showers bring December pine needles. This year’s wet spring gave Minnesota growers tall and vibrant Christmas trees, and a chance to replenish stocks that had dwindled since the pandemic.
“It’s fun to be able to sell people the size that they want, rather than just the size that’s left,” said Nick Wolcyn, who runs a tree farm in Cambridge.
During the pandemic, as there were far fewer family get-togethers, more people bought trees, Wolcyn said. Like many growers, he kept dipping into a stock of younger trees to accommodate the demand, sacrificing future harvests. As a result, they sold smaller, wimpier trees.
After five years of playing catch-up, Wolcyn’s stock of 8- to 9-foot trees is back to normal.
Growers were aided by frequent rains in late spring and early summer, the crucial time for trees to grow voluminous branches. The wet weather also gave patchier trees a summertime glow-up, said Kathy Jones, business manager at B&J Evergreen in Clear Lake.
“The trees are absolutely gorgeous,” Jones said.
Christmas tree farms largely escaped the effects of tariffs, and so they have tacked on only modest price increases to their supplies. Prices in the Twin Cities for a live tree range from about $50 to more than $200, depending on the size and variety of tree.
“We have trees at all price points, so that way families can come out and get that real Christmas tree,” Jones said. “Christmas is going to happen one way or the other.”
