Christmas tree shortage taking hold in Sask.

Scoping out an authentic Christmas tree is becoming a taller task by the day during the holiday season.

Most stores have already sold out, or are approaching that point with a massive shortage taking place across the country.

Rick Van Duyvendyk is the owner of Dutch Growers and said they have completely run out of real Christmas trees.

“Yeah, we’re sold out,” Van Duyvendyk admitted on The Brent Loucks Show.

“(There’s) nothing left at all. We do have some cedar balls and wreaths and that kind of stuff. If you have an artificial tree, you can get some of that smell into your house.”

The only real choice left for people at this point is artificial trees.

“We just got our artificial trees last week because of all the containers being shorted and everything else. A lot of stores right around the country just got some of their Christmas stuff,” he said.

This has been an ongoing situation for several years now, according to Van Duyvendyk.

“(This) shortage happened a few years ago,” he said. “With the pandemic, more people didn’t put in any Christmas trees. It just created a perfect storm for not having any Christmas trees around.”

Some folks have chosen to go down another avenue to keep the “real” tree tradition strong.

While it may not be the standard size, the longevity is what really makes these trees worth it.

“One thing that’s been very popular this time of the year is cypress pines because they are almost like little living Christmas trees in your house that you can even decorate,” Van Duyvendyk said.