Ace Christmas Desk – In short: Growers say more people are buying cut or potted Christmas trees than a few years ago. Perceived sustainability and lower costs in some areas are contributing to the trend.
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What’s next?
Used trees can be cut up and used as mulch.
For seven-year-old Teddy, picking out his family’s Christmas tree is one of the most exciting parts of preparation for the big day.
“Getting a Christmas tree means you’re just getting into the Christmas feel,” he said.
Teddy’s mother Lucy Lines said her family, in south-east South Australia, gets a real tree every year.
“Christmas finally starts when you bring your real Christmas tree into the house, and then it smells like Christmas,” she said.
While real trees are common in the heavily forested south-east, growers say the appeal is spreading due to sustainability and cost-of-living concerns.
Seven-year-old Teddy Lines picked out a free Christmas tree in Mount Gambier. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)normal
A more sustainable choice
Calum Haygarth runs a nursery just south of Mount Gambier, but was previously a gardener at the Queen Mother’s castle in Scotland.
He said he had noticed rising interest in real Christmas trees both locally and nationally over the past 10 to 15 years.
“[Plastic trees] don’t tend to have quite the look of a real tree, they don’t have the smell,” he said.
Wes Saundry has owned a Christmas tree farm at Chandlers Hill for 17 years. (Supplied: Christmas Tree Farm Chandlers Hill)normal
Wes Saundry has run a Christmas tree farm in Adelaide for 17 years and said sustainability was the main reason more people had started buying real trees.
“Since people are wanting more sustainable products, they’re starting to find out they’re actually enjoying [real trees] a lot,” he said.
“Everything that grows ends up going back in to the soil, and it’s very carbon neutral.”
A range of potted Christmas trees that can last decades are available. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)normal
Cost of living impacting interest
Mr Haygarth said in some areas, cost was also a factor in people choosing the real thing.
“With the potted trees … people can have them year after year because all they have to do is put them on the patio or in the garden, and bring them back in the following year,” he said.
In the past, some South East locals would get their trees through the illegal method of taking trees on forestry plantations.
But, in recent years, forestry company OneFortyOne has given away free trees, which are not destined to become timber.
Ms Lines said economic challenges might encourage more families to get involved.
“I think people are finding Christmas really tough this year,” she said.
“It’s a really lovely way to bring Christmas into your home.”
Forestry company OneFortyOne gives away free Christmas trees to people in SA’s South East. (ABC South East SA: Josh Brine)normal
Tree care tips
When it came to caring for cut trees, Mr Saundry said water was key.
“As long as you have a big bucket of fresh water that’s the main thing,” he said.
“And not in the sun. The sun will diminish the life of the tree pretty quick because it’s taking moisture out.”
Mr Haygarth said potted trees were also relatively easy to care for.
“With the live potted tree it has its own root system in the pot, so it’s just like a normal pot plant,” he said.
He said they could last decades, if cared for properly.
“It’s much more sustainable and much nicer to have the real thing,” he said.
The Chandlers Hill farm is the oldest in Australia. (Supplied: Chrismas Tree Farm Chandlers Hill)normal
After they had passed their usefulness, Mr Haygarth said trees could be cut up and put in green waste or FOGO bins.
Mr Saundry offers to pick up the trees after Christmas and turns them into mulch for the next crop.
“The needles make really good mulch,” he said.
“I always used to cut it into little bits and put it out the back and turn it into compost.”
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