Pickings for natural Christmas trees will be a little slimmer this year

SYDNEY, N.S. -

For some, it's the best part of the holidays; picking out that perfect Christmas tree and taking it home.

But, it's a time-honoured tradition that perhaps not everyone will get to enjoy this year.

"We are seeing shortages all across Canada," says Shirley Brennan, the executive director of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association.

She says, quite simply, the amount of evergreens ready to be harvested can't keep up with what has been a growing demand in recent years.

"We're seeing a lot of new Canadians," Brennan said. "We're seeing a lot of new homeowners. We're seeing a lot of families that have grown, and now have families of their own, and want to have a real tree."

There is no shortage of trees at one Christmas tree farm near the Mira River.

"We've seen an increase in demand last year, in Christmas 2020. And it seems to have continued into this year, 2021," says owner David Mombourquette.

Despite a not-so-great weather forecast, they're preparing for their busiest weekend.

Mombourquette figures the pandemic has done a lot to breathe new life into an old custom.

"I'm hoping that what it did was cause people to realize the thoughts of their childhood, of a real Christmas tree," Mombourquette said. "And a lot of them hopefully went back to a real Christmas tree last year and have continued this year."

Then, there are the factors affecting supply.

Brennan says it takes 10 to 12 years for trees to grow to a proper size and that, about that many years ago, the 2008 recession saw a lot of farmers scaling things back.

Since then, Mother Nature hasn't been kind either.

"We've seen extreme heat in the west for a few years, so that has impacted us," Brennan said. "We also saw a damaging frost in June of 2018 in Nova Scotia."

That weather from "June-uary 2018" has affected Nova Scotia's ability to export trees in its usual numbers now.

To both the rest of the country, and the U.S. eastern seaboard.

And, with demand up not only at farms, but at retailers too, Brennan says this isn't the year to be picky.

"You may not get that tree that you usually get," Brennan said. "So step outside your comfort zone. Get a smaller tree."

Back at his Christmas tree farm, Mombourquette says he's never run out before.

"We're going to keep up as long as we can," he said.

He also recommends that anyone who wants the real thing this holiday season should get picking early.