Christmas tree farms cope with weather

Carroll County (Map, News) - Christmas tree farmers are in their high season, but said business has been cut down by sloppy, cold weather keeping the crowds away.

“It’s been a pretty bad year, as far as weather’s concerned,” said Wayne Thomas, owner of Thomas Tree Farm in Manchester. “First we had the drought in the summer, now there’s nothing but rain and snow. This is probably one of the worst seasons I’ve seen in terms of weather.”

Thomas is president of the Maryland Christmas Tree Association and has operated his tree farm in northern Carroll County for almost 40 years. Thomas said he sells about 2,200 trees each year for $35 each, regardless of their height, and expected business to pick up this weekend and next.

“We have two more weeks,” Thomas said. “They’ll probably be busier than usual I expect, because people have put it off because of the weather.”

Paul Stiffler has been working at the Frostee Tree Farm in Perry Hall since 1981, and said business has been a little slower than in the past.

“This year I don’t even see that many decorations up. I don’t know if the economy is holding them back,” he said.

Stiffler said one major draw to the farm was the land itself, and the experience of wandering the fields for that perfect tree.

“People from the city don’t get a chance to do that,” he said. “Often they’ll wander around for a couple hours looking for a tree and wind up with the original one they look at.”

Thomas said a boom in artificial trees had cut “a little” into his business, but believed real trees were coming back into style.

“Real trees are good for this environmental movement — when you cut a real tree, another is planted in its place,” he said. “It’s saving land as a farm, too. An 80-acre farm [here], without Christmas trees? We’d probably be a development.”

Reisterstown resident Dave Arnold said he has been coming to Thomas’ farm for 18 years, and Friday brought some members of his family out to cut a pair of trees. He said he had recently helped out at a Christmas tree stand near his home, but wasn’t about to buy a tree off the truck.

“It’s hard to break from tradition,” he said.

Forecast for Baltimore-area tree hunters:

>> Today: A chance of snow and sleet after 1 p.m., mostly cloudy with a high near 36 degrees, and a 50 percent chance of precipitation. Possible snow and sleet accumulation of less than one inch possible.

>> Tonight: Periods of snow, freezing rain, and sleet, 100 percent chance of precipitation.

>> Sunday: Periods of rain or freezing rain before 1 p.m., then snow likely, with highs near 39 degrees.

Source: National Weather Service

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com