With more and more people gravitating towards environmentally-friendly lifestyles, owner of the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot Matthew Byma is seeing more people choose a real Christmas tree over an artificial tree.
“With the push behind people wanting to be eco-friendlier, this is a more ecofriendly way of having a Christmas tree,” Byma said.
“The average life of an article tree is about four or five years, and then they end up in a landfill,” he said.
Adding, once the holidays are over, real Christmas trees are chipped and used for a secondary purpose.
Byma was inspired to bring a Christmas tree lot to Chestermere nearly nine years ago after he noticed a tree lot was missing in the community.
“I recognized Chestermere was a growing community, and it was a service they didn’t really have,” Byma said.
Byma collaborated with Owner of Landscape Plus Kerry Malakoff to bring a Christmas tree lot to Chestermere.
Although every day at the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot is different, a typical day for Byma includes greeting customers, and helping them pick-out and find the perfect tree for their home.
When families shop at the Christmas tree lot, they can expect a variety of trees from Balsam Fir from New Brunswick, Fraser Fir that is grown in high elevations, Douglas Fir that is shipped from British Columbia, or specialty trees such as Cooks Blue Balsam Fir.
“They are all farmed. These are all farmed as Christmas trees, so you’re actually supporting another agricultural business,” Byma said.
In previous years Christmas tree farmers decreased the amount of trees they grew because of the increasing popularity of artificial trees.
“Now people want a live tree, and tree sales have gone up by 20 per cent,” Byma said.
“The farmers hadn’t planted as many trees because they anticipated sales to go down,” he said.
The most substantial challenge to having a real Christmas tree is ensuring it doesn’t dry out.
To ensure the tree doesn’t dry out before the holidays are over it’s important to keep the tree away from a fireplace or a vent.
If the tree is near a vent, close the vent and cover it, so the hot, dry air is not directly on the tree, and water it regularly Byma said.
“The first day or two that you get it and put it inside, it will usually soak up a couple of gallons of water,” he said.
Adding, “Make sure that you’re diligent in keeping it watered, especially those first couple of weeks, it’s really important.”
Throughout the last nine years that Byma has worked at the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot, he has heard many tips and tricks from people on how to keep their trees alive longer, such as adding sprite to the water or only using sugar water.
“A customer once told me he uses brandy,” Byma said.
For Byma, a highlight of working at the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot year after year is helping customers and seeing returning customers.
“Seeing people who come every year is really nice, and it puts you in the Christmas spirit,” he said.
Adding, “The highlights are seeing the returning customers every year and catching up with them.”
