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Kula Botanical Gardens, a farm frequented by many Mauians seeking freshly cut Christmas trees, has been forced to chop down one of its fields due to the wet and humid weather in late summer and early fall, but the hundreds of trees that will be sold this holiday season will be greener and fuller because of the rain.
“We do have other fields that are still looking good, 9 acres (of trees),” said Helen McCord, a director of Kula Botanical Gardens on Monday.
McCord said she was busy Monday taking orders from commercial clients, who will start receiving their trees from the Kula farm beginning next week. They include 20-foot-tall trees being sold to hotels for display.
The public will be able purchase the Monterey pines from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 4-6 and Dec. 12-13, where there will be carry-out service. After those days, trees will be limited and sold at the garden’s gift shop with no carry-out service.
Like other Kula farmers who lost cabbage, strawberries, pumpkins and lettuce to the abundant rain and humid weather in the summer and fall, Kula Botanical had to eliminate around 400 trees to prevent bugs from spreading, which proved successful. The gardens had to work hard to keep the trees bug- and fungus-free in the nonideal weather for growing Christmas trees, McCord said.
The flip side is that the rain made the trees “greener, taller, fresher,” she said.
In September, nearly 5 inches of rain fell in a gauge in Kula, or 430 percent of the average for the month. In October, a rain gauge in Kula collected 3.39 inches of rain, or 192 percent of the average, according to the National Weather Service.
The McCord family has been selling fragrant, thin-needle trees in Kula since 1974. Many families make it a tradition to pick up their trees at the Upcountry farm. Trees normally range from 3 to 18 feet tall. Prices vary, but a 6-foot tree costs around $66 dollars.
Kula Botanical trees also are sold at two Whole Foods locations on Oahu and the one in Kahului.
At nearby Kula Kelly’s Farm, Kelly Bass, who owns the Christmas tree farm with husband Mike Wilson, said that the rain didn’t affect her Norfolk pines.
“The trees don’t mind,” she said Monday of the rainy conditions.
“They’re drought tolerant. I had turned off the water for a couple of months because we had so much rain,” said Bass, whose family members farm part time on their 2-acre lot.
The nonfragrant trees also had a growth spurt and are taller than normal because of the rain. Bass touts the Norfolk pines as non-needle shedding, soft to the touch and not bushy, so ornaments are easy to see.
The thick Norfolk pine needles also last longer than their finer-needle counterparts, Bass said. Her trees can remain fresh for six weeks.
Customers pick out their tree. Farm officials cut the trees and load them into vehicles. There will be 100 trees to choose from this year, Bass added.
The trees range from 4 to 20 feet and are $10 per foot. The tree farm is open beginning Dec. 1 by appointment. It also will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays until Christmas.
The farm is at 742 Holopuni Road in the Kula Glen subdivision. For more information, contact Wilson at 281-2277.
An official with West Coast and Hawaii shipper Matson did not have Maui Christmas tree arrival information Monday afternoon.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.