Warngau: Forester gives tips on buying a Christmas tree - the trend is towards large specimens
Created: 12/19/2022, 10:00 am
By: Bettina Stuhlweißenburg
Large selection: In Bernloh, farmer and forester Josef Quercher has 200 to 300 open trees.
Customers are trending towards the Nordmann fir – very few want to do without a tree entirely.
© Thomas Plettenberg
Farmer and forester Josef Quercher from Bernloh explains in an interview why people stick to tradition in difficult times - and how a Christmas tree lasts particularly long.
Warngau
– People have to shell out more money for almost everything this year than in previous years.
Of course, under these circumstances, savings are also made at Christmas.
Or not?
We asked the Warngau farmer and forester Josef Quercher (54), who sells Christmas trees on his farm in Bernloh, at the natural cheese dairy in Kreuth and in Miesbach.
Mr. Quercher, life has become expensive. Who can even afford a Christmas tree these days?
Josef Quercher:
In my experience, everyone who has had one up until now.
A Christmas tree is an essential part of Christmas.
You can do without gifts, don't eat so lavishly, but Christmas without a Christmas tree is unthinkable for most people.
In the past, I sometimes had the case that older customers said: We're not buying a tree this year, a beautifully decorated branch is enough for us.
The following year they bought another tree after all.
If only a small one.
By what percentage have the Christmas tree prices increased compared to the previous year?
Josef Quercher:
My trees have not become more expensive.
Depending on the tree, I ask 15 to 200 euros.
The most expensive are seven to eight meters tall.
Removed roof structures: Customers are looking for large trees
Who would buy such a big tree?
Josef Quercher:
Municipalities for example.
What is striking, however, is that the demand for large trees has increased.
Trees around four meters tall, for example, are very popular.
The buyers have a converted roof truss and want the tree to take up the entire height of the room.
Firewood has become significantly more expensive. Why doesn't this affect the Christmas trees?
Josef Quercher:
Christmas trees are cultivated trees.
They don't do any more work today than they did last year.
But firewood is an agricultural product.
That's been sold too cheaply for the last ten years.
You should have asked for 130 to 140 euros per star earlier.
Previous prices paid for either the wood or the labour, but not both.
Gradually, the prices reach a value that suits the product.
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What types of Christmas trees do you sell?
Josef Quercher:
Nordmann firs, silver firs, spruces and pines.
I have the largest selection at home in Bernloh.
There are 200 to 300 open trees.
You can choose in peace.
What kind do you recommend?
Josef Quercher:
The trend is clearly towards Nordmann fir.
I have them myself.
She doesn't needle.
The blue spruce, on the other hand, dries faster.
Nevertheless, she has her justification.
For example outdoors.
There are also people who afford a stone pine.
This is something special.
Simply because she is 20 to 25 years old.
What is beautiful and what is not is a matter of taste.
Tips for buying and storing: This is how the tree lasts a particularly long time
Do you have a tip to keep the tree beautiful for a long time?
Josef Quercher:
Buy it freshly struck and set it up a day or two before Christmas.
Until then, refrigerate.
It is clear that a tree that was felled in mid-October and then sat in the discount store for four weeks will lose its wings at Christmas.
What is often done these days: putting up the tree at the beginning of Advent.
Of course, you can't expect it to be particularly fresh at Christmas either.
But a fresh tree has to last 14 days.
Some people put sugar in the water in the Christmas tree stand...
Josef Quercher:
Water in the Christmas tree stand can be helpful.
Spraying the tree with a spray bottle also protects it from drying out.
Because the underfloor heating, which is common nowadays, is already taking its toll on the tree.
But sugar?
Mei, it always helps, even if it doesn't help the tree (laughs).
Bettina Stuhlweißenburg conducted the interview.
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