U.S. housing crisis impacts tree market
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/04/2016 (3581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Homeowners looking to spruce up the backyard with a new tree or two will be best served to do it early, according to one of the major distributors in the province.
Gerry Aubin, owner of Aubin Nurseries in Carman, said some greenhouses are starting to feel the effect of the 2008 market crash in the United States.
“At that time, everybody cut their inventory production by 30 per cent and that’s continued. Plus, approximately 30 to 40 per cent of the tree growers in North America have gone bankrupt because of that U.S. housing crisis. Even though there wasn’t a housing crisis in Canada, we’re still connected economically,” Aubin said.
For several years following the collapse there was a surplus of trees as U.S. producers flooded the market.
Aubin said U.S. producers had an excess of product and it was all coming north, and therefore Canadian products had no place to go.
“They were building a million houses a year in 2007 and all of a sudden they stopped building,” Aubin said.
“Those trees had to go somewhere and all they did was throw them in the garbage dump. Once you put a tree in a pot, it deteriorates after the second season so there’s no place for the product to go, but the dump.”
With many of the producers out of business, the ones that are left are finding it difficult to catch up because of the long and difficult production cycle.
Unlike other agricultural crops, trees generally have a five- to six-year cycle.
Garden centres with long relationships with suppliers shouldn’t be affected, according to Aubin.
Patmore Nursery owner Marci Bomford said she has planned further in advance to ensure customers still have a diverse and quality selection to choose from.
Donna Chandler with The Green Spot said she started to notice the trend midway through last season.
The nursery wintered more trees this year as a way to mitigate the issue.
Chandler said Linden and Ash trees continue to be popular in the area, while fruit trees also continue to eat up a larger portion of the market.
Six-foot trees typically cost between $70 and $120.
» ctweed@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @CharlesTweed