Droughts have plagued Central Illinois and affected the business of Christmas tree farms. Take a look into Talbott’s Christmas Tree Farm located in Tazewell County and hear from one of the long-time workers comment on the future of the farm and his insight into what makes the perfect Christmas tree. Also, watch a video of Sandy May, 79, who worked at Dotson’s tree farm back in the 1970s.
Talbott’s Christmas Tree Farm survives despite inclement weather
By Jeff Plotner
A view of the small shop at Talbott’s tree farm
What’s more American than going into the woods with nothing but an axe and your bare hands to cut down your own tree for Christmas? The tradition of cut-your-own holiday tree has permeated the American family for generations, but this year families may find their hunt for the perfect Christmas tree sabotaged by Mother Nature.
Central Illinois has been plagued with droughts for the past few years, and Talbott’s Christmas Tree Farm has seen a drop in tree production and quality because of it.
“The drought has affected these trees quite a bit,” Dave Banner, 44, said. Banner operates a small farm a few miles down the road from the tree farm and has worked at Talbott’s since his sophomore year in high school. “ We lost around 20,000 to 30,000 trees. Big trees. That’s why we’re down in quality of trees in cut your own. They’ve been trying to plant years after that and have had trouble. This year we got good survival. We planted 15,000 seedlings.”
It normally takes one year for each foot of tree growth, not including the first year when the tree gets big enough to support itself, so an average six foot tree will be ready to cut in five or six years. With more rainfall last spring and summer combined with this year’s successful seedling planting, Banner expects a good tree turnout by 2018.
But future trees may be smaller than the consumer is used to. This does not mean they will be unhealthy, though. A good way of telling whether a tree is healthy is to look at the needle color. An unhealthy tree will show brown on its needles. A healthy one will be green. And running your fingernail against the bark can diagnosis the tree’s health. If the bark shavings that come up look raisin-like, then the tree cannot be treated or saved.
On the bright Christmas light side, Talbott’s does sell trees from out of state where the weather has been more hospitable to tree farmers. These trees are cut down months before Christmas and shipped by trucks.
“We do have Fraser firs come in from Michigan and Virginia,” Banner said. “They might be the most popular trees. I’d say they are the Cadillac.”
Fraser firs are not adaptable to the climate of Illinois. They are native to the Appalachian Mountains of the Southeastern United States.
On why people still choose to cut down a real tree instead of opting for an artificial one, Banner had this to say: “It’s a tradition. We had a family here last week and we told them we were down on cut your own. They said as long as we can cut any tree it’s tradition. And they know it’s fresh.”
Dave banner, left, Sandy May, middle, and Scott Plotner, right, look out at the remaining trees.
On an unseasonal warm Friday with 12 days until Christmas, the Whitaker family went to Talbott’s with the hopes of finding a Scotch pine that was big enough to hold all of their Chicago Bears ornaments.
“We came a little late in the season. The holidays seem to get busier every year, but I’m confident we can find something the whole family will like,” Nathan Whitaker, father of three small children said.
“We’ve been coming to Talbott’s since we got married,” Ariel Whitaker said with a Styrofoam cup of free hot chocolate in her hands. “I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid. My dad would stuff all of us into the station wagon that didn’t have any heat and every year we’d have a competition on who would find the tree that year. It was a lot of fun, a lot of good memories.
Ariel Whitaker looked out at the winter grey countryside where the remaining trees made perfect lines.
“This place hasn’t changed that much,” Mrs. Whitaker said. “It’s like stepping back in time. My dad’s been gone for a few years now. The holidays can be rough after something like that, but coming here makes him feel closer. So yes cutting down a Christmas tree is a family tradition. And I would never get a fake tree. Never. That wouldn’t be Christmas.”
The Whitakers ended up coming back with a beautiful Scots pine. They called it the “perfect tree.”
But what makes the perfect Christmas tree?
“Everybody’s got their own preference,” Banner said. “What you might like might not be what somebody else likes. I get a kick out of some husbands who come pick out a big seven foot one when the wife’s not there. We had one lady come in. She wanted a Charlie Brown tree. She wanted it real thin so she could hang ornaments all the way in by the trunk and string some lights through. And the next person wants it so thick you can’t see into it. Everyone has their own idea of the perfect Christmas tree. What I would say is have you ever seen a tree that’s ugly after it’s decorated?”
Banner said he usually brings home a tree to his family after his kids have searched the farm for their own perfect tree.
Watch Sandy May, 78, reflect on his time of working at Dotson’s tree farm which was bought out by Talbott’s.
See the history of Christmas trees here.