“Trees are resilient,” said one Christmas tree farmer. “It’s actually shaping up better than what I had anticipated.”
By Amanda Gokee Globe Staff, Updated November 28, 2025, 6:19 a.m.
Jeff Taylor’s 14-acre hillside in Richmond, N.H., is blanketed in Christmas trees. During the holiday season, Taylor said he typically sells out in a matter of days.
This year, Taylor has been tending to the trees with some concern. Drought conditions have parched the region, leaving long dry spells with no rain.
But despite the difficult weather, Taylor said this year’s crop is ready to shine, with lights, ornaments, and garlands.
“It’s actually shaping up better than what I had anticipated,” he said. “In spite of the drought, I had some pretty good growth, as much as a foot-and-a-half, 2 feet on some of the trees.”
With many families across New England preparing to deck the halls and trim their holiday trees with tradition and good cheer, Christmas tree farmers in New Hampshire are ready for a busy season. While drought can stunt the growth of young trees, farmers and foresters said consumers can still expect a quality crop this year.
“Trees are resilient,” Taylor said.
This year, they had to endure conditions that could’ve been concocted by the Grinch. New Hampshire saw its driest summer on record in 130 years, which decimated some crops, sparked more wildfires, and ran some private wells dry. And those concerns extended throughout New England, with long-term predictions saying the drought would persist into 2026. Since July, rainfall has been below normal, with some weather stations logging a deficit of about 6 inches in recent days.
Trees are often priced based on their size and height, ranging from $50 for a small tree up to $300 for one that might light up a town common. A typical tree costs around $85, according to Taylor. Compared to Christmases past, experts said prices for the fragrant decoration have held steady.
“I haven’t seen any price rises in the trees this year,” said Nigel Manley, program director of the New Hampshire-Vermont Christmas Tree Association who also owns a Christmas tree farm.
Of the New England states, Vermont chops the most Christmas trees, at around 127,000 from 266 farms, followed by Maine (94,425 trees, 370 farms), and Connecticut (88,893 trees, 547 farms). New Hampshire ranked fourth in New England (and 15th in the nation), with 278 farms cutting about 79,300 trees. Massachusetts (78,630 trees, 459 farms) and Rhode Island (11,936 trees, 64 farms) round out the industry in New England. That’s according to 2022 data, the most recent available from the US Census of Agriculture, which is collected every five years.
Nationally, there were about 16,600 Christmas tree farms cutting around 14.5 million trees each year. Oregon, North Carolina, and Michigan cut the most trees.
A rainy spring helped save New England’s Christmas tree season.
Before the drought took hold this summer, the region had seen more than a dozen weekends of rainy weather by June.
That’s the period when trees grow the most, said Steven Roberge, a state specialist in forest resources at the University of New Hampshire Extension.
Too much rain can also create problems, such as foliar diseases — a type of tree infection — that could cause the discoloration of needles, blotchiness, or in the worst-case scenario, needles falling off on the inner part of the tree, Roberge said. That could result in trees looking thinner than normal.
Roberge said it’s unlikely consumers will notice any problems with the trees on offer at farms since farmers are selective about what they sell.
“Christmas tree growers are pretty good at putting the best product (forward),” he said. “They’re simply making the decision ahead of time to put frees in front of folks that are ready to be cut, trees that look good as well.”
Brian Milakovsky, a senior forester at New England Forestry Foundation, said Christmas tree farmers often have tools to grow more than Charlie Brown trees, such as irrigating the plants during long dry spells and trimming the tree to stimulate conical growth.
At South Farm Christmas Trees in Bethlehem, N.H., Manley said the drought hasn’t stunted the growth of his trees. Just the opposite — he said one of his Fraser fir trees put on a whopping 4 1/2 feet this year. Call it a Christmas miracle.
Manley, who recently retired from a decades-long post with the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, said young seedlings are typically the most vulnerable to drought after planting. This year, he said, the heavy rainfall in the spring was the biggest stressor facing young trees.
While he typically loses about 50 of 900 seedlings, he said this year his losses might be closer to 100. Next year, he expects to make up the difference by planting about 1,000 baby trees.
Meanwhile, he said, bigger trees have an established root system affording them greater protection from the weather. The heavy rainfall supercharged their growth this year.
“They actually look great,” he said. “We had more growth and heaviness, foliage, than I’ve ever seen growing trees.”
Christmas trees typically grow for seven to 10 years before they’re ready to be cut and put on display.
In southern New Hampshire, Taylor said he sells 700 to 850 Christmas trees at Windswept Mountains View Christmas Tree Farm, which he runs with his wife, Susan. He said he planted his first trees in 1984 and has been harvesting them since 1992.
This year, the farm opened Saturday, the weekend before Thanksgiving. It is only open on weekends. Ahead of the opening, Taylor said he’s received a lot of calls.
“Demand on our farm here has gone up every year,” he said.
“The frustrating thing is I can only grow so many trees in so much space to keep up‚” he said. “It’s pretty incredible.”