For many years, the sale of “real” Christmas trees was a booming business in the United States.  Even locally here in Chattooga County, there would be several retailers offering the option of a real tree for the holiday season, along with some roadside pop-up Christmas tree stands.  Those searching for a real Christmas tree this year found them harder to come by locally.

The trend away from real Christmas trees to artificial ones isn’t just something happening locally or regionally.  In fact, the U.S. natural Christmas tree industry has been declining for over fifty years, that according to Marsha Gray, the executive director of the Real Christmas Tree Board – an industry trade group.  Gray told CNN recently that the number of real Christmas trees being sold drops exponentially each year.

Julie Brinkley with Pine Ridge Outdoor Supply in Lyerly says that they haven’t had real trees for several years.  The recent droughts have played a role in them being able to get the real trees delivered to the store.  While they haven’t been selling real Christmas trees, Brinkley said that they have seen their live wreath business grow.  Pine Ridge supplies the greenery each year for the live wreath class put on by the Chattooga Young Farmers at the Ag Building.  The greenery comes from a mature Christmas tree farm where trees are no longer harvested.

But the trend towards artificial trees may be driven by more than the weather and the economy.  The American Christmas Tree Association says that in a recent poll 77% of Americans are opting for artificial trees and part of that is because they are better made and more realistic-looking than they have been in the past.

While their will always be those that opt for the “real deal” when it comes to Christmas trees, it does appear that the artificial trees are becoming the most popular with American consumers.  The downside to that is 85-90% of the artificial trees that adorn our homes at Christmastime are made in China.