The living Christmas tree

A $100 price tag doesn't slow demand

BY JOSH BROWN, FINANCIAL POSTDECEMBER 15, 2009

www.canada.com

Evergrow Christmas trees - Jeff with trees.
Photograph by: Sean Macalister, Canwest News Service
Sean Macalister is hoping for a green Christmas -- environmentally, that is. Mr. Macalister, forester-in-training and Jeff Ferguson, forestry firefighter, started Evergrow Christmas Tree Co. this year, renting out live, potted Christmas trees.

Mr. Macalister says he got the idea when he was 12 years old, collecting seeds and growing potted Christmas trees in his parent's backyard. He says his parents didn't mind even though he often had 15 or more trees growing at a time.

Now, for $100 Mr. Macalister and Mr. Ferguson will deliver and pick up a live Christmas tree to your home or business. Their website markets the service as an eco-concious way to have a Christmas tree without hurting the environment. Mr. Macalister says customers also get peace of mind knowing that after Christmas their trees will be cared for until the next year when they can be rented out again.

"A lot of people feel bad that they are getting cut trees. That tree grew for six to 12 years just to get cut," Mr. Macalister says. "People say, if I can get a tree and it gets planted after and grows into a full-size tree, they feel good about that, feel good about doing something good for the environment instead of just taking away all the time."

This year the pair rented out 200 trees priced at $100 each netting about $20,000.

However, the trees cost between $23 and $50. Add to that the costs of renting nursery space for the trees during the other 11 months of the year, the cost of transporting the trees 100 kilometres from the grower in Chilliwack, B.C., chemical fertilizers and the irrigation system and the pot begins to dwindle.

"The first year is really not a huge profit-maker. We have to pay off so many start-up expenses," Mr. Macalister says. "If you can reuse the tree the year after, that's where you start making profits."

Ted Corbett has about 6,000 trees growing in Kelowna that he sells to schools, landscapers and people looking for Christmas trees. He says it probably won't cost a lot to store the 200 trees until next Christmas.

"You can pretty much stick them in a field side by side and leave them out. If you have to pay someone to water them and prune them that could get expensive," he says.

Mr. Macalister estimated it would not cost more than a $1,000 and that Evergrow would be able to re-use about 70% of the trees, growing profit margins on their business. The rest of the trees will go in the ground as part of the company's commitment to sustainability.

The main challenges have been customers who don't understand what goes along with keeping a live tree, he says.

"There is more tree care involved. You have to water your tree every couple days, make sure the tree is not by a heater, and do not put spray or tinsel on the tree. There are some restrictions," he says.

Evergrow's trees are also more mangy looking than cut trees. "Our trees aren't perfect. They're not pruned as aggressively as cut trees because they are living and we want to keep them alive," Mr. Macalister says. "Some people don't understand our trees aren't perfect."

Evergrow is sold out this year and already has a wait list for next year when it plans to rent about 500 trees. "We cut our wait list off at 20 but we probably could have had another 100."

But EVERGROW hasn't got a monopoly on the market. Vancouver-based Carbonsync Holiday Trees will also deliver a potted Christmas tree for a price ranging from $25.00 for a small tree to $125.99 for a large tree. The company has sold out all but its largest trees.

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