Closed B.C. highways cause Christmas tree shortage

If you’re hoping to get a real Christmas Tree this year, you might be out of luck.

Due to the flooding in B.C., as well as this summer’s heat dome and wildfires, local garden stores say stores are low on stock.

Manager of Vancouver’s Hunters Garden Centre Laura Doheny says two out of three of the Christmas tree lots they normally order from are currently underwater in Abbotsford. Some have also become inaccessible due to highway closures.

Our stores are open, but customers are asked to place your order at our entrance. Employees will bring you your order. You can call 604-590-2431 or 604-733-1534 to have your order ready for pickup. We can also deliver to your home.
Note we only accept debit and credit, no cash.

— HuntersGardenCentre (@HuntersGdnCtr) March 20, 2020

“Most people will look to come into the lot at this time of year and have it overflowing with trees. What we’re seeing is a slow trickle of trees coming in,” she said.

On top of that, she says many of the other trees they got were damaged in the fires this summer.

“A lot of them got very badly scorched during the intense heat that we had in June,” she said.

“The hard part of a lot of this is the devastation of farmers in the valley. People do not understand the ramifications. When you lose a crop or the ability to get a crop to market, that’s direct revenue for them. Those farmers are having such a terrible time.”

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It might be slim pickings in 2021 — literally — with many trees smaller and less bushy than average.

“I would say they’re probably thinner than they would usually be. Normally they’re very big and voluptuous and bushy, but the farmers have had to take a lot of the tips off just to cut back on the burn that they’ve had,” she said.

Doheny says as we get more climate events here in B.C., a lack of Christmas trees will be something consumers may need to get used to.

She’s unsure of how long this shortage will impact her tree stock but hopes tree lots are able to return to regular sales soon.