The cycle of a tree

By Times Wires
Published December 10, 2007

The Lavoies have some smaller artificial trees in their home, but they insist on the real thing for their living room. Buying the tree is part of the fun. Every December, the Lavoies wait for a cool night, get bundled up and head to Gallagher's Christmas Trees on Fourth Street N in St. Petersburg. They usually pick a noble fir, which they like for its relative softness. They have pictures of 9-year-old Jordan running and hiding among the trees at Gallagher's back when she was a toddler. "It's just a tradition," said mom Candida Lavoie.

Nearly all the trees you see for sale in parking lots here come from outside Florida. Many come from such places as North Carolina, Michigan and Oregon. The Lavoies' tree got its start at Snowshoe Evergreen, a 600-acre tree farm in Washington state, according to Tampa tree broker Florida Produce.

Trees grown up North need protection from our warm winters. Sometimes still dusted with snow, they are hauled south in refrigerated trucks. The Lavoies' tree was first taken to Florida Produce in Tampa and stored in a refrigerated unit, then went toGallagher's Christmas Trees in St. Petersburg from there.

Cut your own at one of Florida's nearly 90 Christmas tree farms, which sell about 20,000 trees a year, all heat-tolerant species. TryErgle Christmas Tree Farm, (352) 583-3647, or Lazy Lay Acres, (352) 567-6808, both in Dade City. Or skip the ambience and head to a street corner or the big-box store.

Try recycling. Trees can be turned into mulch and more. Many Tampa Bay area counties and municipalities offer curbside pickup or dropoff points for tree recycling. Call your local government offices or visit their Web sites for hours and places. Just don't forget to remove ornaments and tinsel.

30M-50M

Number of families expected to bring home a cut Christmas tree this year.

$512M

The gross earnings of Christmas tree farmers in 2006, with North Carolina ($134-million) as the top producer. Oregon was next at $121-million in sales.

Top tree-producing states

Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington.

Top-selling species

(nationwide)

Balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.

How long it takes a Christmas tree to grow

Five to 16 years. (In Florida, a 7-foot tree can grow in four years.)

Tree purchases in 2006

9.3-million bought fake trees.

28.6-million bought real trees.

Leading foreign source of artificial trees

China, which shipped about $13.4-million worth last year to the United States.

Sources: National Christmas Tree Association, American Forests, a Washington-based conservancy organization; Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; USDA Economic Research Service; interviews with Mike Mauricio of Florida Produce, David Gallagher of Gallagher's Christmas Trees, Kenneth Scholz of Snowshoe Evergreen tree farm in Washington and Jack Ewing, past president of the Florida Christmas Tree Association

[Last modified December 9, 2007, 23:36:41]