Tree farms throughout the Thompson-Okanaagan are seeing an increase in demand for fresh Christmas trees

Photo: Contributed

The demand for Christmas trees in the Thompson-Okanagan has a number of farms already sold out of their stock. 

Jolene Palmer, who owns Prairie Valley Christmas Trees in Summerland and is the membership director for the Thompson Okanagan sector of the BC Christmas Tree Council, said while she don't know if there is a shortage of trees generally in the province, she knows quite a few of the 30 some-odd farms in the Interior have been cleaned out already.

“Most farms are sold out by mid-December,” she said. “I think it's because there's people out there really wanting fresh trees and we get these calls and then I have to turn them down.”

And this year was especially early, with all trees on her own farm claimed by Nov. 20, and many of her returning families coming by earlier to make sure they got theirs. 

“We wanted to give them their first crack at our dwindling stock,” Palmer added, noting that she’s been surprised by the amount of people looking for trees this year.

“I thought with COVID and less people coming for gatherings and special occasions, people might want fewer trees this year. But the comments that I've heard from a few of our customers are that they really wanted a Christmas tree because they're not going to have a whole lot of people.”

Lamberton Tree Farm in Kelowna, also known as Grumpy Tree Farm, sold out of their tree stock over a week ago, having families come by before they even officially opened to get their Christmas tree. 

“It is faster than normal, because of the Covid thing, there were people coming earlier so they didn't have to come when the crowds were all here,” owner Richard Lamberton said.

Usually Lamberton sees two weekends of sales, but this year the stock was gone over one weekend.

“It was a very quick season. We only sell about 300 trees and with all the repeat customers that we get, it doesn't last very long.”

Shades of Green tree farm in Penticton only has about a dozen small trees left, standing all under six feet. 

“The demand is up for Christmas trees,” Grace Lank, owner of Shades of Green said. “Our first tree went out I think it was the middle of November, we noticed people were coming by earlier this year.” 

“I'm still getting an awful lot of phone calls from people that are still looking,” Lamberton said. His farm will replant the number of trees they sold, but generally won't look to expand. 

Two years ago, Lank decided to sell out the Shades of Green trees and not replant any, wanting to wind down operations. She’s guessing it probably will be the last year they sell Christmas trees, although they still have a few growing up.

Prairie Valley Christmas Trees also announced this would be their last year, meaning there likely won’t be tree farms open in South Okanagan next year.

“Most of our members in the interior here grow small acreages and a number of us are actually winding down our operations, including ourselves,” Palmer said. “We're getting older and retiring.”

All the owners added that they think the demand is up because it's still a safe family friendly activity to do. 

“It's definitely about the experience, not about the tree particularly, it’s the family togetherness,” Palmer said.

To find a full list of tree sellers who are a part of the BC Christmas Tree council, visit their website.