Live Christmas trees sell out at Lake County farms, lots

The demand for freshly cut Christmas trees has never been higher throughout Lake County and beyond.

Family outings in search of the perfect freshly cut tree seem to be adding a bit more magic to the holiday season during this challenging year.

“If only we had the magic to make the trees grow faster,” said Norene Keefer of the family-run Gengel Christmas Tree Farm in Lake Villa. “In our over 50 years selling trees, this was the busiest.”

Like many selling freshly cut and cut-your-own Christmas trees this year, Gengel Christmas Tree Farm sold most of its trees within a few weeks of opening this season and closed Dec. 13 after a busy weekend.

“Hoping we gained some new lifelong customers as we do this for the love of Christmas and for the love of our customers,” the family posted on the farm’s Facebook page.

Typically, most farms and lots remain open through Christmas Eve, but it’s quite a different story this year. An outdoor activity, Christmas tree hunting appealed to many families feeling cooped up during the pandemic.

Paired with an undersupply of trees that put trees in scarce supply.

Christmas trees take seven to 10 years to develop from seedlings, so many of the trees available this season were planted during the recession in 2007 and 2008. At that time, some growers left the business, while others didn’t plant large harvests.

Fast-forward to today’s pandemic when no one could have predicted the demand for fresh trees.

“We really didn’t think people were going to be buying trees,” said Eugene Wrobel, who manned a Christmas tree lot hosted by the Knights of Columbus near St. Bede Catholic Church in Ingleside.

As of last weekend, a single tree remained on the lot.

A nonprofit Catholic fraternal service order, Knights of Columbus typically sells about 365 trees a season at the lot, but was about 45 short this year, Wrobel said. Much of the money raised by the sale of the trees goes to support services provided by St. Bede Catholic Church, including those helping families in need, he said.

“Everything went faster than we expected,” said Wrobel, who usually keeps the lot open at least until the week before Christmas.

It was a similar story at Kroll’s Farm in Waukegan, which sold more than half of its pre-cut trees within the first two days of opening after Thanksgiving. Most of the remaining trees were gone by this past weekend.

“I think this year people were looking for something positive,” said Tyler Kroll, who opened the Christmas tree portion of the family business about seven years ago. “I know quite a few people said to me they weren’t traveling this year, weren’t going to see their families. They’re all looking for something different to do, some sort of memorable thing.”

Kroll said he’s never sold out of trees before, and usually has at least 20 or so left by Christmas.

With only a few small trees remaining Dec. 13, the family propped them on the entrance gate.

“To try and spread the holiday spirit, we are offering them FREE, first come, first served,” the farm’s Facebook page announced. “Feel free to share with anyone who might need a little help this holiday season!”

Christmas tree farms and lots aren’t the only places experiencing the demand.

In 33 years, Country Bumpkin Garden Center in Mundelein has never sold trees so quickly, said Cindy White, who owns the business with her husband, George. As of this past weekend, they were down to five trees.

As much as Cindy White likes the sales, she also enjoys the trees filling the business lot every season.

“It’s actually kind of sad,” White said. “We’re happy we’re almost sold out of trees, but it’s so early. … It’s just one for the books.”

As of this past weekend, a Christmas tree lot jointly hosted by a youth ministry, the Knights of Columbus and Boy Scout Troop 44 at Saint Mary of Vernon in Indian Creek seemed to be the rare lot with trees still available.

Overseeing the lot since 2012, Gary Schiappacasse expected he’d have no more than about 30 trees left this week.

“I’m the only lot in town,” he said.

The nonprofit organizations hosting the lot bring in about 175 trees and usually sell about three trees a night, he said. This year, they’ve sold about eight trees a night some nights, he said, “and people are not arguing about price.”

“I’m using the logic people just need another activity,” he said. “They’re all kind of hunkered down in their houses with their kids doing distance learning. Many times they’ll come as families to the tree lot to pick out the tree, and it’s a family activity to decorate it.”

Sales benefit the nonprofit organizations involved. All who help run the lot are volunteers. In years past, the groups simply broke even, so the demand comes as a happy surprise to Schiappacasse.

He’s not alone.

“Nothing about this year was able to be predicted so it doesn’t surprise me this wasn’t either,” said Tyler Kroll of Kroll’s farm. “We’re just happy it went the way it did.”