Are there enough Christmas trees this season?

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – The holiday season is just around the corner and it’s time to start tree shopping if you have a live one.

But a question that also arises this year is: Will there be enough?

“I sell what I grow and I don’t go out and buy other trees. I grow my trees up in Perry County and then bring them down here in Mechanicsburg,” he said Sober’s Christmas trees Owner Curtis Sober.

There is no shortage of trees in Sober this year. But in a few years it could be a different story because it takes seven or eight years for a pine tree to grow big enough to be a Christmas tree.

“Well, it’s always a concern because when you’re out for a year… the warm weather hasn’t really been a problem except for the real small trees,” Sober said.

In the spring they planted about 600 trees. But that summer was so hot and dry that 80% of them died.

However, the larger trees were not affected.

“The larger trees have deeper roots and have survived the dry period,” said Sober.

Sober planted more pine trees this fall, hoping to make up for the lost pine trees.

“I went and got about 300 so-called plug trees, plug seedlings. So I planted those and wished I had planted more, but the lack of time just kept me from doing more,” Sober said.

While there’s no shortage of Sober’s Trees, he says it’s always best to get the tree early because you can put it in water and keep it in the shade, and it should stay fresh until it’s time to put up the tree.

Sober’s Trees opens Saturday, November 18th.

Sober mentioned that the largest tree he has ever planted is 33 feet tall and will be cut down after Thanksgiving and will be the city of Harrisburg’s Christmas tree this year.