Christmas tree farms come back

ELGIN, Texas (KXAN) - Black Friday wasn't just about shopping at the mall. That's when a lot of folks go out to pick their Christmas trees.

But tree farms have been hit in recent years by the prolonged drought.

Last year the Evergreen Farm in Elgin did not sell any of its living trees, just imported firs from North Carolina. This year they're back.

"It's really hard to go through that," said Evergreen Farm's Katy Walterscheidt, "especially because it takes five to seven years to grow a Christmas tree. So it's going to take us awhile to fully recover."

A lot of families visited the farm Friday. When asked about the magic of picking a live tree, mom Shawn Lecuona replied, "Taking kids. Taking the kids along and they'll pick it out."

Another mom, Lisa Young, says she was under instructions from her son Adrian. "The perfect tree will have a point at the top, he tells me. It'll be full in the middle for all the ornaments and he says it has to be taller than me."

They found it, and took it home for immediate decoration.

"That's the tradition, the day after Thanksgiving putting the tree up," Young said.

Evergreen Farms says for those who have allergies, consider the Leyland Cypress. It is a hybrid that contains no pollens. They also advise heavily watering your tree the first week you have it home because that is when trees are most thirsty.