A push for real Christmas trees

a push for real christmas trees pic 1
Landscape Plus Christmas Tree Lot owner in Strathmore, and tree supplier to the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot Kerry Malakoff (Right) has been supplying families with real Christmas Trees for 18 years. Tammy B (Left) has worked for Malakoff for almost a year, and both enjoy the relaxed nature of helping families find the perfect Christmas Tree. Photo by Emily Rogers

Creating lasting family memories while picking out the perfect Christmas tree

a push for real christmas trees pic 2
Tammy B (Left) and Kerry Malakoff (Right) bear the cold weather so families can find the perfect Christmas Tree. Malakoff has owned the Landscape Plus Christmas Tree Lot in Strathmore for nearly two decades and has supplied trees to the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot for roughly eight years. Throughout the last 18 years Malakoff has been more families purchase real Christmas Trees, and create lasting memories of the tree lot. Photo by Emily Rogers

The owners of Christmas Tree Lots often have as much fun as their customers do while picking out the perfect tree for their holiday celebrations.

“It’s fun, everybody is happy,” said Kerry Malakoff , owner of the Landscape Plus Strathmore Christmas Tree Lot for nearly two decades.

She is also the tree supplier for the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot.

“We try to make it a really positive experience, so the kids remember next year the fun of going to the tree lot,” Malakoff said.

Over the years, Malakoff has noticed an increase of families wanting real trees in their homes for the holiday season.

“I’m seeing the next generation say, ‘I’ve never had a real tree’, it’s come full circle,” she said.

When an opportunity to open a Christmas Tree Lot in Chestermere came up, Malakoff couldn’t resist.

Matthew Byma, a previous employee of Malakoff’s who enjoyed working in other tree lots, stepped up to the plate and opened the Chestermere Christmas tree lot roughly eight years ago.

“We’re good friends, we work well together,” Malakoff said.

She added, “We’re trying to make sure the whole area of people can get trees, we’re trying to make sure everybody gets what they want.”

For Byma, opening the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot was a simple decision.

“I like it because it’s really relaxed, everybody is in a good mood,” Byma said.

Chestermere has been extremely supportive of the tree lot, as Byma sees many of the same faces year after year.

“It’s a lot of families that support the tree lot, because they remember it being a good experience, they want to pass that down to their kids,” he added.

Families are not only making lasting memories together while purchasing a real Christmas tree, but they are also helping the environment instead of purchasing an artificial tree, Malakoff said.

However, the trees that Malakoff sells are shipped by rail across Canada.

She added, “All of the tree’s come from actual Christmas Tree Farms.

“Years ago, people used to think they just owned a bush and cut down a bunch of trees when nobody is looking, it’s not like that at all.”

Each year, Malakoff ensures the tree lots have a wide variety of trees including, the Balsam Fir which come from New Brunswick, Fraser Firs which are grown in higher elevations and are considered to be a perfect tree, and Douglas Firs which are shipped from British Columbia.

Malakoff also brings in specialty trees, such as Cook’s Blue Balsam Fir, which have a blue tinge, and have the Balsam Fir smell.

“I do try to get different varieties for people’s wishes,” she said.

The most important thing families can do to ensure their Christmas tree survives until after the holidays is to make a fresh one inch cut at the bottom of the tree, Malakoff said.

When a tree is put into a warm home, the tree wants to grow and pull up water.

“If it hasn’t had that fresh cut, it can’t pull up water, and it dries up,” Malakoff said.

In addition to cutting off the end of the tree and giving the tree water, Malakoff has also heard of families giving their tree ginger ale, aspirin, and whiskey.

“The bottom line is, it needs water,” she added, “The extras, that’s up to everybody.”

The best part of owning a Christmas Tree Lot for Malakoff is opening the shipping container full of trees.

“It’s chock-full of trees, you open the doors and there’s a wall of trees, there’s this huge smell of Balsam Firs, it’s like oh my goodness I’m in the middle of the forest,” Malakoff said.

She added, “That’s the kickoff that Christmas is coming.”

Although Malakoff enjoys the relaxed nature of owning a Christmas Tree Lot, there have been hurdles she has had to overcome while owning the lot for 18 years.

The largest challenge for Malakoff is when the trees, which are alive and growing, freeze while being shipped across the prairies.

“The trees are actually frozen to the container walls, and the sides of the trees that are stuck to the container have brown needles,” Malakoff said.

“There’s always a couple that just dry out, sometimes it’s just one branch that can be pruned off,” she added.

With every 1000 trees purchased, there is bound to be one bad tree within the bunch, Byma said.

“If a tree were to die randomly, we just give [the family] a free tree,” Byma said.

He added, “We don’t want their Christmas to be ruined because the one random tree they happened to have picked was a bad apple.”

The trees that are not sold before the holidays are chipped or burned in a bonfire with the community Malakoff said.

She added, the Landscape Plus Christmas Tree Lot delivers trees for a food bank donation.

For more information on the Chestermere Christmas Tree Lot stop by weekdays from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m., 12 p.m. until 9 p.m., Saturdays or 12 p.m., until 6 p.m., Sundays at the Chestermere Rec Centre.

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In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Anchor Media Inc encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this site and downloading the Rogue Radio App. Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to info@anchormedia.ca


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