Demand for live spruce trees has fallen, and prices for imported ones have reached 200 thousand

The other day, Roslesinforg, the country’s leading forest accounting organization, reported that there would be no shortage of Christmas trees; more than 60 thousand trees have been harvested in domestic tree nurseries, so there will be enough for everyone. Among them there are spruces, pines and firs. And most importantly, they will rise in price, according to forestry workers, not very much – only by 5-7%, in rubles it comes out to about 100-200 rubles.

True, if you take a very small tree up to 1.5 meters high, then it will really cost no more than 1.5-2 thousand rubles. Two-meter spruce trees will cost from 2.5 to 3 thousand rubles, and for coniferous trees above three meters you will have to pay quite a significant amount. For example, on the marketplace there are now offers starting from 30 thousand rubles for five-meter beauties. And we are talking only about our domestic Christmas trees. Imported conifers (mainly Fraser or Nordmann fir from Denmark) will cost many times more.

“Of course, richer buyers mostly buy imported material,” says Lydia, manager of one of the supermarkets near Moscow, where they sell goods for the home and garden, and also traditionally sell live Christmas trees on the eve of the New Year holidays. “These trees look better and last longer; they may not shed their needles for up to a month, or even longer.” Our domestic Christmas trees, unfortunately, begin to crumble after just 2 weeks; they are also inferior to imported ones in terms of needle density. To choose a Christmas tree that is lush on all sides, you will have to sort through dozens of trees.”

According to the store employee, they have not yet started selling New Year’s live goods. Typically, the trade in Christmas trees begins in the second ten days of December; by the way, Christmas tree markets on the streets of Moscow and the Moscow region will also start operating from December 8-16. No shortage is expected; there should be enough Christmas trees for everyone.

“At first there were problems with import supplies, but then everything somehow worked out. The choice of assortment, of course, is no longer what it used to be. I can’t guarantee that there will be Canadian pines or Norwegian spruces, but I saw the documents for fir from Denmark with my own eyes – these were definitely purchased, probably, like everything else now, through parallel imports,” Lidia reassured.

Imported New Year’s trees, considering the “vegetable gardens” used to deliver them to Moscow, have certainly risen in price by not 5%. Retail chains admit that the price tag for Danish fir has jumped 2.5 times over the year. The most modest tree one and a half meters high will cost 9,700 rubles on the marketplace, and a three-meter tree will cost a fortune – 49,000 rubles.

“It’s good that Christmas trees are becoming more expensive, maybe if they buy less of them, they will also cut down less. This is some kind of barbarity: to destroy so many trees in order to admire them for a maximum of two weeks a year! ”, one of the customers in the Christmas tree decorations department is indignant, whom we asked how she felt about the rising prices for live Christmas trees.

Irina, as the woman introduced herself, believes that a bouquet of fir branches is enough to fill the room with the smell of fresh pine. By the way, it is our Russian Christmas trees that have such a strong aroma of pine needles, familiar to us from childhood; imported representatives of conifers smell practically nothing.

“Every year at home, my children and I decorate a Christmas tree, but not a real one, but an artificial one. And at the dacha we specially planted a spruce tree and decorate it with beautiful lanterns, flags, and also attach pieces of apples, dried fruits and other delicacies for the birds to the branches. Bullfinches and tits come to visit us, and once a squirrel came running. The children were happy and the trees were intact,” says Irina.

However, for supporters of artificial trees, the news is also bleak: this type of New Year’s decor has risen in price by as much as 20% over the year, so you will have to pay from 7.5 to 11.3 thousand rubles for a one and a half meter tree.

There is another way – a compromise – how to celebrate the New Year with a traditional live Christmas tree in the house and without harming nature. To do this, you need to buy a coniferous tree in a beautiful pot or tub, it all depends on the size of the plant, after the holiday you can put it on a cold balcony, and in the summer you can plant it in your dacha.

The best seller here is the same Danish Nordmann fir, although the prices for it, however, are also high. For a small tree up to a meter high you will have to pay almost 10 thousand rubles, for full-fledged trees above 3 meters there is simply an astronomical price tag – 200 thousand rubles and more. True, you can limit yourself to a tabletop tree; as a rule, its role is played by a cypress tree. It is only 30 cm high, but it costs a thousand rubles.

MEANWHILE, Christmas tree markets in the Moscow region officially open on December 8 and will continue to operate until January 10. This year there will be only 250 such points of sale in the Moscow region. It will be difficult not to notice them, since the organizers promise to decorate all Christmas tree markets in the same style, decorate them with New Year’s lighting and provide detailed information about where the Christmas trees came from. They are mainly going to be imported from nurseries in the Moscow, Penza, Ryazan and Vladimir regions.

How to choose the right Christmas tree?

The Rospotrebnadzor website has recommendations on how not to make a mistake when choosing the ideal green symbol of the New Year. Here are the main things buyers should consider:

First. Before you go shopping for your Christmas tree, measure the place where you want to place it, so you don’t have to shorten it.

Second. When choosing a spruce, be sure to pay attention to its trunk – it should be smooth and thick enough. A thin trunk may indicate that the tree is not strong enough or that the tree did not grow in a nursery, but was self-seeded. Forestry enterprises sell them cheaply, as rejected goods, because they will still be used for sanitary felling, for example, in the power line zone.

Third – check the flexibility of the branches. If they break with minimal force, it means that the tree has been cut down a long time ago, has dried out and will quickly crumble in the warmth. A healthy tree should have needles of a rich emerald color, elastic and firmly attached to the branches. The pleasant aroma of live spruce is another sign of quality.