First Shipment of Christmas Trees Reaches the Ozarks

NIXA, Mo. -- Christmas is more than a month away, but some people are finding the perfect tree means starting early. That's why the largest tree lot in Missouri is already receiving shipments.

On Tuesday, Nixa Hardware & Seed received its first load of trees from Oregon. It included about 350 trees, and 700 more are expected by the end of the week.

Workers cut the bottom of the trunk, put them in a stand, and water them with boiling water. The harvesting of Christmas trees begins in June and July because of the volume workers will be handling through mid December.

"What a lot of people don't realize is most Christmas trees are cut in the middle of the summer," says Joe Glenn, general manager at Nixa Hardware & Seed. "They actually put them in storage and until you activate the tree by cutting the bottom of the trunk, the tree will last forever."

Glenn says business starts right before Thanksgiving and the weekend after is their busiest week. He says in the first three weeks, they'll sell two thirds of their trees, selling about 1,000.