Britain could face a Christmas tree shortage in the years ahead after the hottest summer on record and severe drought produced a smaller crop for many growers.
The exceptionally dry conditions across England and Wales killed many young saplings during their first year, while established trees experienced stunted growth.
The extreme weather has raised concerns about the quality of this year’s harvest and the potential for shortages in future, as Christmas trees typically take eight years to reach the point of being cut.
Clive Collins, owner of Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm near Bexhill in East Sussex, said a particularly late frost in May had also damaged the growth of older trees.
He told the Daily Mail that imports had fallen this year because of logistical problems, including a shortage of lorry drivers and sharply higher fuel costs.
Mr Collins – who has farmed Christmas trees for more than 30 years and has 16,000 growing on his plantation – said the extreme weather had also reduced the number of trees available for export.
He added: ‘This is making importing very expensive. As a result, there is a shift towards domestic sourcing and British consumers will be relying more heavily on the millions of trees being grown domestically on UK plantations.
‘There should still be sufficient trees this year – and we have plenty at Catsfield. The weather has affected the quality of some trees – although we have plenty of top quality ones at Catsfield – so people might struggle to find their perfect tree.
Clive Collins is the founder and owner of Catsfield Christmas Tree Farm in East Sussex
Mr Collins says his crop was affected by a very late frost in late May as well as the hot weather
‘It is not just the heat that has affected the trees – we lost a number of very young trees this year – but a very late frost in late May in the South East damaged the buds of some older trees and affected their growth.
‘We have just planted 1,800 replacements for the trees we lost this year – autumn planting is becoming more common because the weather is increasingly unpredictable. More rain will help the roots. Growing Christmas trees is not as straightforward as people might think.
‘You cannot simply plant them and leave them. They need fertilising, protection from birds and other wildlife, pruning and monitoring throughout the year.
‘It takes seven years to grow a 6ft tree – not including the two years needed to grow a sapling, which is usually imported from Denmark. It is a constant learning process as new techniques and species are introduced.’
He said the industry also experiences a ‘hog cycle’ – when ‘the price of trees is high so everyone plants Christmas trees – seven years after that there are too many trees, then the price goes down – people stop planting and then there is a scarcity’.
Oliver Combe, who runs York Christmas Trees with his wife and son, said around 2,000 newly planted trees had died during the hot, dry summer.
The 57-year-old, who will supply this year’s 10 Downing Street tree, has begun planting in autumn to give the trees more time to develop strong roots before summer droughts arrive.
He described it as a ‘tough year’ for growers, with ‘no proper rain since Easter’, adding: ‘For the first time ever we have had losses in what we planted last year.’
Edward Barham, owner of the Hole Park Estate in Rolvenden, Kent, said he had lost a ‘few saplings planted this year which had insufficiently well-established root systems’, but the area’s heavy clay soils retained moisture and helped the trees survive the drought
Mr Combe said he was also considering irrigating his crops using water from two ponds on the farm, which he hopes will contain enough water when it is needed.
He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The summer of 2018 was pretty extreme. We did think it was an exception before but very, very hot summers are becoming the norm.
‘We used to have drier Aprils and Mays but it seems to be drier for longer. We all think ‘oh, it will balance out over August’, but one of my fields is still bone dry.’
Growers are advising the public to wait until the beginning of December to buy a tree, when it will have experienced several frosts and should hopefully remain fresh for longer after being cut.
James and Ruth Wallis, who run Sutton Hall Farm near Lewes in East Sussex, said the severe weather had killed 20,000 trees planted two years ago.
Mr Wallis, whose harvest is expected to be a third smaller this year, told the BBC: ‘The drought has made it harder for trees to absorb nutrients, and some have turned yellow.’
The farm does not have an irrigation licence and was therefore unable to water its trees. Instead, the couple left weeds growing around the smaller trees to provide some protection from the heat.
Mrs Wallis added: ‘The financial consequences are significant. You invest a huge amount of time and effort into producing a quality tree, so it’s very disappointing.’
Will and Ella Miles, whose Welford Christmas Tree Farm in Northamptonshire will supply two trees to Downing Street this year, lost 4,000 saplings during the drought.
The winners of the British Christmas Tree Growers Association were announced last month – including Will and Ella Miles (far left) from Welford Christmas Tree Farm in Northamptonshire
They are now planting young trees in autumn, giving them more time to establish their roots before hot weather arrives and improving their resistance to drought.
However, Hole Park Estate in Rolvenden, Kent, which began establishing its plantations in the mid-1960s, said its trees had survived the drought because the High Weald’s heavy clay soils retained moisture from earlier rainfall.
Hole Park owner Edward Barham said: ‘There has been understandable concern about the impact of the Summer drought on this year’s Christmas tree crop, but we’ve been fortunate that our location in the Weald has worked very much in our favour.
‘Our heavy clay soils held on to moisture remarkably well and the trees have responded brilliantly.Â
‘Whilst we have lost a few saplings planted this year which had insufficiently well-established root systems, and have had to water young trees, we have seen very little drought-related damage to established trees and the overall quality of this year’s crop is outstanding with excellent colour.’
Russell Parkins of the British Christmas Tree Association described it as a ‘tough year’, adding: ‘There are enough trees, but it’s a challenge to keep them in good condition.
‘We’ve applied more fertiliser into the tree so there is more moisture in the ground. As the trees shut down for winter, it can still maintain the nutrients.’
Severe drought conditions remain across parts of south-west England and Sussex, including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, East Sussex and West Sussex.
However, the whole of north-west England, including Greater Manchester and Cumbria, was moved to recovery status last week following England’s wettest week in two years.
Much of Wales remains in drought after the UK’s hottest summer since records began in 1884. At least 120 per cent of average rainfall is expected to be required over the next six months for the entire country to emerge from drought by next spring.
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