Here’s why Christmas trees are so expensive this year and how local businesses are handling it

Christmas trees — bringing joy and fresh smelling pine to homes all over the Boston area — are not immune to inflation. Or rising labor costs. Or Canadian wildfires.

Local Christmas tree farms all over the Boston area each are handling the changes differently, from altering services to increasing the cost of the trees, or by just simply reacting to the market.

Prices went up this year, but the increase is less substantial compared to the years after the pandemic, some local farms said.

Jeff Feccia is the co-owner of Christmas Tree for Me, and his business is also running the Tree Farm at Snowport in the Seaport as the new vendor this year. Their trees start around $125 to $140, depending on the species. A 7-foot balsam is $170, and a 7-foot fraser fir is $220.

Christmas Tree for Me, along with Brookline farm Allandale Farms and Boston Christmas Trees in Allston, all stock two species of Christmas trees — balsam and the more expensive fraser fir trees.

One Reddit user warned r/Boston of the price hike at Snowport, saying last year’s vendor stocked trees significantly cheaper, between $60 to $100.

“In addition to the labor, and it being in the Seaport, and inflation is the Canada wildfires,” Feccia said, “so Canada burned down, as did a giant part of the Christmas tree inventory, so mix all those together, and unfortunately, you have a higher price tree.”

Feccia said Christmas Tree for Me is about making Christmas tree shopping convenient. They offer delivery, apartment lobby pop-ups around the city, tree lighting services, and removal.

Lenny Rotman of Boston Christmas Trees said the cost of doing business has been going up, but the Canadian wildfires did not affect his purchases from the region.

This year, Rotman said tree prices went up around $1 per foot, so an 8-foot tree would be about $8 to $10 more expensive. His trees start at $90 for the balsam firs and $105 for the fraser firs. His business also offers delivery.

“We put a big effort into trying to buy directly from quality growers that we have good relationships with,” said Rotman, who began Boston Christmas Trees 50 years ago.

In Brookline, Helen Glotzer of Allandale Farms said while prices have gone up, it’s the smallest increase by year since the pandemic.

“It was rather shocking how much the big trees went up this year, quite frankly,” she said, “but what 90% of the customers are buying, that’s those more standard sized trees, we saw minimal price increases this year.”

She said most of her trees come from Nova Scotia, where the grower there also wasn’t affected by the wildfires. Instead, demand has forced growers to cut trees sooner, reducing the stock of larger trees.

Glotzer said all of the 6- to 8-foot trees, either balsam or fraser, are priced between $58 and $139. The most popular trees customers purchase are between $73 and $85.