The trees that nobody wanted
So is it just me, or do you find it a little bit sad just before Christmas to see all the trees that were never sold? It seems kind of wrong that they were raised to be one glorious thing for a few glorious weeks, and now they’ll end up as mulch without ever having fulfilled their destinies.
It’s not as if it’s like it was when I was a girl and trees varied – a lot. There were the bushy ones and the scrawny ones, and almost every tree had a “bad side” that you would put against the wall. Trees were not as bushy back then either, and because they weren’t sprayed, if you were very lucky, your tree would contain a bird’s nest. Now trees are uniformly bushy, and the only variations are species and size. I don’t think you could find a scrawny one if you tried.
I spoke to the owner of one of our local nurseries and he told me he had ordered more than 3,000 trees from New Hampshire this year. He also said that despite cheery media reports about booming live tree sales, his sales were down this year and had been declining steadily for the past several years.
I wandered around and looked at the trees that would never see an ornament or lights. There were so many of them. One was being loaded onto someone’s SUV, but the rest would remain unsold – some of them still in their original wrappers.
That is sad, isn’t it?
Digging RI 
It’s very sad, dirtynailz. I remember the lots being really picked over by the time Christmas neared when I was a kid. Now it seems that few are sold. We do have a place nearby where you can cut your own tree. That makes the most sense. None are wasted.
I miss walking through the tree-lined sidewalks in New York to search for the “perfect” Christmas tree. Beautiful trees, scrawny trees, all expensive! I’ve had two trees that came with birdnests. I wrapped them delicately in tissue paper and have kept those nests through the years. A little bird ornament sits in them on the Christmas tree.
Here in middle Georgia, all the Christmas trees are flimsy. I’m not sure what kind they are. They were so disappointing that I opted for an artificial tree instead. I long for one of those strong-limbed Christmas trees from a NY sidewalk vendor. They would hold a brick!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours, dirtynailz. Thanks for your gifts of nature through the year and your wise and comforting words. ~cj
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Thanks for your kind and thoughtful words, CJ. It is good to know that I am not alone.
I find it interesting that your Georgia trees are flimsy. I would think they would be all pumped up like the “steroid” ones we buy here.
I have an artificial tree, too. I found it by the side of the road several years ago. Since then, it has acquired lights and a variety of meaningful ornaments. We enjoy it so much every year.
Merry Christmas, and many thanks for your loyal reading and insightful comments.
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I love how you acquired your tree! Now that’s making good use of roadside treasures. 🙂
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It looked so forlorn lying there by the side of the road. I’ve been putting it up every year for about 9 years now and it’s amazing what a few lights and cute ornaments can do! We don’t really have enough room for a real tree, but we might go for it next year anyway. I’ll never throw away my “foundling” though.
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Sad yes, but at least it is mulched back into the circle of life. When I was a child we used to go to the forestry station on Kloof Neck, the slopes of Table Mountain. To buy an invasive alien pine tree, with long needles. Imagine high summer and how scrawny and sad the trees looked, but at least they smelt right. Decades have passed – now the fynbos is valued, the invasive pines are a fire hazard and are being steadily removed!
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How out of context those pines must have seemed where you live. At least they are being eliminated now.
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oh gosh. It is really sad.
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Oh good. Someone else feels the same way. Thanks, Wendy.
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