Scents and dollars in pine trees
An ugly tree will save you pennies as the festive season kicks into high gear.
Want one perfectly shaped and standing over two metres? You can expect to pay hundreds.
The price of your festive pine will also depend on where in New Zealand you buy.
But one thing is for sure – demand for natural Christmas trees is strong across the country.
Michael Fuyala, one of the owners at the iconic Misa Christmas Tree Farm in central Auckland, said smell and tradition were the key drivers bringing in customers.
‘‘We have people who came here as children who now bring their own children to look for a tree,’’ he said.
Aucklanders will pay anywhere between $20 and $350 for their Christmas tree while South Islanders will start at $20, if they can get one.
On December 8, John Munro’s Christmas Tree Farm in Dunedin posted to its Facebook page that the trees had sold out.
At Misa, odd-shaped trees started at $30, while the price for perfectly shaped specimens began at $55.
Fuyala said they didn’t like to call these ‘‘ugly’’ but rather trees with ‘‘a lot of personality’’.
If money and space was not an issue, the larger trees from Misas would cost up to $350.
A spokesman for Needle Fresh Christmas Trees in Christchurch said business had been steady since the beginning of the month.
‘‘We certainly had quite a busy weekend that first weekend in December,’’ he said.
‘‘But people are getting more and more fussy each year. People need to realise it’s not out of a mould, it’s out of the ground.’’ The scent was the drawcard. ‘‘It’s the smell that people love. They drive up and say that it’s the smell of their childhood.’’
He had noticed more and more people were buying plastic trees, thinking that was the environmental option.
‘‘People think Christmas trees are not environmentally friendly but we’re planting a renewable crop. You are doing more harm by buying a plastic one.’’