By Clint Thompson
Christmas season starts earlier and earlier. No longer are people waiting until after Thanksgiving to decorate their homes for Christmas. And as we saw this year, no longer are some stores waiting until November to offer Christmas lights and decorations for sale.
That mindset can also be seen on Christmas tree farms as well. While Thanksgiving Day week has often served as a peak time for purchasing trees in the past, that timeframe has been expedited in previous years, according to Jeremy Pickens, Alabama assistant Extension professor in horticulture at Auburn University.
“It used to be the weekend after Thanksgiving. Now it’s more and more earlier, the weekend before Thanksgiving,” said Pickens, who stressed to consumers that Christmas tree farms are selling out of trees sooner every year.
“There are some guys that sell out in the first two weeks,” Pickens said.
Christmas tree growers will often have to protect future seasons’ crops by closing their farm earlier than expected.
“Most of our guys don’t have a problem with marketing their trees. They are trying to keep people from cutting next year’s trees. They’re having to kick people out,” Pickens said. “Especially with getting closer to Christmas, some last-minute folks and I’m guilty of that myself, you’re picking through and see an area of the farm roped off, and some people want to cross that line and (farmers) have to get them out of there.
“Eventually they have to shut the gates.”