Season’s greenings, as usual

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This article was published 27/11/2024 (346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a rich, syrupy scent in the air as people browse through rows of evergreens, deciding which one will be theirs to take home for Christmas.

“It feels like I am in a Hallmark movie,” said Cori-Lee Roberts, co-ordinator of 67th Winnipeg Scout Group’s tree lot at Corydon Community Centre’s River Heights site.

Roberts, who is in her first year overseeing the sale, said as the holiday season approached, members of the group worried about having enough trees, but were relieved when their supplier, RBM Gardens Christmas Trees, said they’d be getting more than 2,000.

Last year, the group shut down the lot Dec. 9, after selling 2,200 trees, unable to access more.

While Roberts said she hopes to stay open an additional weekend as the group celebrates its 60th anniversary of tree sales, she says she prefers not to sell late into the season.

“I want all of my volunteers to spend time with their families and enjoy a break over Christmas,” she said.

Proceeds of the tree sales help fund the group’s youth Scouting programs.

Verna McGuckin, who runs RBM Gardens Christmas Trees with her husband Malcom in Headingley, said there has been decline in the number of farms growing Christmas trees in Manitoba. While RBM Gardens grows Manitoba spruce, it needed to dig a little to find farms outside the province to import pre-cut balsam and Fraser fir trees.

In addition to supplying small businesses and fundraising organizations, RBM Gardens is open for retail customers as of Friday.

There will be no shortage of trees at RBM Gardens, so there is no need to rush here on opening day, said McGuckin.

“A couple years ago, one business advertised there was a tree shortage, and it caused a big panic,” she said. “We had a lineup that went a couple miles.”

McGuckin said there are myriad reasons for the decline in farms growing and selling Christmas trees.

“You need to invest so much money, and then it takes 10-12 years after you plant your trees before you have anything to sell,” she said.

“Droughts, forest fires, diseases and staff shortages are all things that can affect the health of your crop.”

McGuckin added that people who own farms are likely to use the land to grow something that will make money in a shorter period of time.

CD Trees in Steinbach is one of the few farms in Manitoba that still grows Christmas trees. Owners Cliff and Dorothy Freund planted their first tree in 1992.

Theirs is a choose-and-cut and pre-cut Christmas tree farm; customers visit the farm, pick a tree and cut it down.

“We have customers who come year after year. Parents bring their children and, then eventually, their grandchildren,” Cliff said. “It’s really fun seeing people come out here and create family memories.”

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca