Christmas Trees - Allington Nursery
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By Sally Churchward » Senior Feature Writer (Southampton Echo)...
For many people, it just wouldn’t be Christmas without a real tree taking over a sizeable part of the living room.
But there is a risk that there won’t be enough trees to go round this year.
Christmas tree suppliers are warning that if you leave it too late, you might miss out.
And even if you do get a real tree, you may have to pay more for it than you had expected.
There has been a shortage of trees over the last few years but thanks to the adverse weather conditions, this year the situation is particularly bad.
The problem took root in 2005, when EU subsidies for growing Christmas trees were axed. The effect was to reduce the number of growers in Denmark – one of the main exporters of Christmas trees, according to The British Christmas Tree Growers’ Association.
Catch-up “We’re growing more trees in this country but we’re in a catch-up exercise,” said Roger Hay, the association’s secretary.
“Also, because of changes in the value of currency, many Danish growers find it more economical to send their trees to Eastern Europe than to the UK. The change has been occurring over the past few years but it’s dramatically worse this year.”
He added that a number of other factors had also resulted in a shortage of trees this year, including a severe frost in Northern Europe in May which damaged a lot of trees and made them unsaleable.
Steve Goodridge, owner of Allington Nurseries in Fair Oak/Eastleigh, says “There’s a massive shortage this year,” he said. “There aren’t as many trees being grown in the UK as there used to be. Also, the Nordmann fir has become popular more quickly than they can grow it “Normally we’d order more trees in mid-December if it’s going well but that’s not going to be the case this year.”
“People might have problems getting a tree if they leave it too late,” warned Christopher Hood. “They’re likely to be in short supply.”
The experts agree that the weekend of December 11 and 12 will be the ideal time to buy your tree.
LOW SUPPLY: Steve Goodridge of Allington Nurseries.
