Local Christmas tree farm says this year was ideal for growing, but that may not always be the case

Cutting down a fresh Christmas tree is a holiday tradition for many families in December.

But farmers say climate change has started to add a lot of uncertainty when it comes to growing trees.

Alison McCrindle is the co-owner of Chickadee Christmas Trees in Puslinch, Ont. They have have been running the tree farm since 1997.

She says this year has brought good weather for tree-growing, but there's no telling what the growing season could look like next year.

"This year we've been very fortunate and and we do have a good crop this year with climate change," she said.

"But what we're seeing is that [the weather] is unpredictable. We're pushed to have these shorter seasons where we have to get a lot done in a short time because you don't really have a long spring anymore."

McCrindle said the summer of 2022 for instance, was really hot and dry.

"In 2022, we were losing four to five-year-old trees, which is something we've never experienced before," she said.

"We were finding was they were just burning off on the south side actually. And they were actually losing their needles. We had never experienced that before."

'Mother Nature is our silent partner'

Shirley Brennan is the executive director of the Canadian Christmas Trees Association and the Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario. She says tree farmers have had to deal with a number of climate-related challenges over the years.

"I always like to say that Mother Nature is our silent partner," she said.

"Some years she's not as co-operative or as aligned with our partnership as we'd like her to be. And so we have seen in 2018, a really late frost that happened in Eastern Canada and part of Quebec that damaged some of the mature trees. And then we've seen floods in B.C. or the floods in Nova Scotia in the last couple of years, along with heat domes and forest fires in Ontario."

Brennan says depending on the species, it can take up to 12 years before a tree is ready to be cut down.

"What we're seeing is in year six and seven, typically Mother Nature would water them but with the extreme weather we're seeing farmers now are watering them in year six and seven because you want to bring [the tree] to harvest," she said.

"That's why I say it's a labour of love. Because it is not something that we can just sit back and take for granted."

Brennan is encouraging those who celebrate Christmas to come out to a tree farm and buy a fresh tree to show local farmers their support.

"Come out to a farm and just take a few minutes, breathe. It's good not only for physical exercise, but it's also good for your mental health."

Long-time tradition

Many people, like Carly Houghton, say going to a spot like Chickadee Christmas Tree farm is part of a long-time family tradition of having a real tree in their house for Christmas.

"It's a tradition we've done now for five years and it's just a lot of fun. The hunt, finding the tree, you get the sled and it smells like Christmas and it's a lot of fun."

For some like Lucas Jonker and his family, it was the first time picking out a real Christmas tree.

"We want to go with the real Christmas tree because it was just a new experience for our family... hopefully it's a new tradition," he said as his mom, dad and sister watched with big smiles on their faces.

"It was fun cutting it down, bringing it back in the sled. It's a good experience... I'm the measuring stick for today. So like it's the perfect height to the wrist. It's about seven feet."