 - Tis the season for a trek to cut-your-own tree farms_files/printme_header.gif)
Associated Press
COLUMBIA--As the holidays approach, many South Carolina families spend their weekends at cut-your-own tree lots around the state, hiking through rows of trees to find just the right pine, cedar or cypress to saw down and haul back to their car. Others go for the precut Douglas firs, mostly imported from North Carolina.
Gov. Mark Sanford, his wife Jenny and their four sons headed to a Gilbert tree farm Monday to cut down their own Christmas tree for the Governor's Mansion.
This year's Christmas tree season is something to behold, says Dale Taylor, president of the S.C. Christmas Tree Association and owner of Christmas Pines Tree Farms in Mountville.
"The drought has eased up and the trees have grown more this year than in previous years," he said. "It's going to be a good season."
"This year we finally got ample rain at the proper time," said Marshall Moore, who runs Seekhaven Farm in lower Richland County. "The trees actually look a lot better this year."
Across the nation, Christmas tree growers like Taylor and Moore say they expect a good holiday season:
-- In Michigan, Ron Cochrane of Cochrane Tree Co. has been selling Christmas trees since 1959. "It's been a perfect year for us," he said. Cool, rainy weather in recent weeks nurtured the 45,000 trees he expects to ship, he said.
-- In the Mid-Atlantic, Christmas tree farmers expect a more vibrant crop after average spring and summer rainfall.
-- In Oregon, which produces more Christmas trees than any other state, growers were expecting higher prices as supplies fell.
Moore worries his offerings won't be as good next year. Five dry years marked by deep drought took a toll on trees, he said.
ON THE NET:
S.C. Christmas Tree Association http://www.scchristmastrees.org/
Click here to return to story:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/112503/sta_25trees.shtml