Christmas Tree woes caused by the drought - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

The long hot Summer took it's toll on farmers crops across the Heartland. And it also hit a Christmas Tree farm hard in Southern Illinois.

The Wiswell Christmas Trees farm has become a holiday tradition for thousands of people in the region.

But, this past Summer's drought killed thousands of trees on the farm.

"When we planted this year, we lost last years trees and this years trees," said Stacy Holloway. "Our bigger trees that we have had for several years didn't do too bad."

The farm was able to save their older trees during the drought by changing the way they care for them over the Summer.

"One thing we tried not to do was trim them a lot to keep the stress off the trees, since they had already been under so much during the summer season," said Holloway.

Holloway says it takes many seasons to get a White Pine to stand ten feet tall, more than fifteen years or longer.

So how this years drought will affect the farm is yet to be determined.

"A few years from now we may have fewer trees to choose from," said Holloway. "And it will have an impact on us several years down the road."

But, this year the farm has plenty of trees for families to choose from to keep their Christmas Tree traditions alive. Or for some to start a new one.

"We wanted to come out and pick out a real tree this year to start a new tradition," said Kelli Brewer of Herrin.

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