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SALT LAKE CITY — Four-year-old Teagan sized up several live Christmas trees as he walked around a tree lot with his mom, dad and little sister.
"I have a fake Christmas tree, but it looks real as these trees," Teagan explained as he looked at the trees towering around him.
But the family was there to pick up a live tree as well.
If he had the choice, Teagan said, he would choose a real Christmas tree. Why?
"Because they're real," he said.
Teagan's mother, Amber Jolley agrees.
"They're prettier."
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, more than 33 million live Christmas trees were purchased in 2013, compared with 14.7 million artificial trees purchased. Live Christmas tree sales in 2013 were the highest since 2007.
"Each year about three times as many fresh Christmas trees are purchased as plastic and metal tree decorations," National Christmas Tree Association spokesman Rick Dungey said.
It’s an interesting time for the industry, he said.
"While there has been some consolidation and reduction of total farms growing trees, consumer demand is still strong and predicted to get stronger," Dungey said.
But there are still challenges, he said.
"Farmers, suppliers and retail outlets need to work together now more than ever in learning about consumer preferences for both trees and buying experiences," Dungey said.
Purchases of live Christmas trees have been inconsistent since 2007, according to data from the National Christmas Tree Association.
In 2007, 31.3 million live trees were sold. That number decreased in 2008 and 2009 to 28.2 million, and 27 million in 2010.
Sales in live Christmas trees increased in 2011 to 30.8 million but dropped to just 24.5 million trees sold in 2012, according to the association.
Dungey said that even with the data, it is hard to say whether a family who owns an artificial tree decides not to set it up one year and opts for a live tree instead.
You buy an artificial tree, it lasts for about 10 years. And so fewer and fewer people are doing a cut tree.
–Lee Pettit, owner and manager of Western Garden Center
Lee Pettit, one of the owners and manager of Western Garden Center, said live Christmas tree sales have steadily declined over the years.
"You buy an artificial tree, it lasts for about 10 years," Pettit said. "And so fewer and fewer people are doing a cut tree."
Despite the decline, he said, the store expects to sell about 350 trees this year.
Dave Evans, owner of Prepaid Christmas Trees, said his sales of home-delivered live Christmas trees have been on the rise.
"Business this year is good," Evans said.
His trees are ordered online by height and delivered to most homes along the Wasatch Front. The company's website shows that most trees are already sold out.
Evans said his business sold more than 200 trees over the Thanksgiving weekend. And the orders keep coming in.
"We're still delivering. We're still selling," he said. "We do sell out pretty quick. The first couple weeks of December we're usually all sold out of trees."
For many, going to a live Christmas tree lot and picking a tree is an important holiday tradition.
"That's what I grew up with," Jordan Hill said.
Hill and his wife, Sarah, strolled the rows of trees at Western Gardens looking for the perfect tree.
Sarah Hill grew up displaying fake trees. She said having a live or artificial tree doesn't make that big of a difference to her, but it does to her husband. He believes real trees are more unique.
"They’re not perfect, and so it’s kind of fun to go out and find the one that you feel like would fit just right for your place," he said. "It’s more of a challenge, more of an experience than just the same fake tree ever year."
"We enjoy going out and picking one out together rather than just pulling one out of the basement with the lights on and stuff," Sarah Hill said. "I mean, it sure is easier to do it that way, pre-lit and everything, but it is kind of a fun experience around the holidays."
Pettit said it's part of the Christmas experience.
"A lot of people do make it a tradition to come in as families to select their Christmas trees," he said. "And that’s fun."
For others, the lure of a live Christmas tree is the smell.
"It's also nice to have just that pine scent in your house," Jordan Hill said.
"I think they smell good," Amber Jolley said. "Fake are cheaper in the long run, but real (Christmas trees) are worth it."
"But you don't get the smell with an artificial tree that you get with a cut tree," Pettit said. "That's one of the motivators. Plus they like something that's real, something that's natural."
Dungey said there will always be a demand for the "on-farm, cut your own tree experience."
"That’s an important tradition for many families," he said. "But there are also many consumers who would buy a farm-grown real tree each year if offered more choices in trees and more choices in ways to buy one, get it home, get it set up and get it recycled after Christmas."
