TREES: LOTS OFFER CHRISTMAS GREENERY

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas with countless evergreens of all shapes and sizes stacked up in Cape Girardeau tree lots.

Most of the tree lots opened Friday, with many of them selling locally grown Christmas trees primarily Scotch pine.

Prices generally range from $3 to $4 a foot. A 7-foot Scotch pine can cost in the $25 to $30 range, tree lot operators said. For a similar-sized balsam tree, the cost is about $14 or $15.

Some lots are also selling live Christmas trees. Prices for "balled and burlapped" trees generally run from $30 to $60, tree lot operators said.

Operators of one tree lot are even offering to deliver Christmas trees to people's homes for an added fee.

The tree lot, operated by students and friends of Notre Dame High School, is situated next to the Burger Lane restaurant on Gordonville Road. The lot opened Friday.

"If people like, we can deliver a tree for them. We can deliver and set it up," said Bruce Smith. A graduate of Notre Dame High School and manager of Burger Lane restaurant, Smith is helping direct the operation of the tree lot.

Smith said the idea of a tree delivery service appeals to some people.

"A lot of people are retired or they don't want to put a tree in their trunk."

For an added fee of $5, customers can have their trees delivered.

The lot features locally grown Scotch pines, ranging in size from 4-10 feet.

Smith said there's no shortage of Notre Dame students to work in the tree lot.

"They like to do it. It is fun for them as an after-school activity."

Although it will be open this morning, the lot will generally be open weekdays from 4-8 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

John Koch, a Cape Girardeau veterinarian, sells Scotch pine from a tree lot set up next to his Cape Small Animal Clinic at 210 Christine.

Koch sells Christmas trees that he grows on a 30-acre tract in Bollinger County. "We've probably got 20,000-plus trees that are in the ground and in various stages of maturity," he said.

"We have some Scotch pine that are literally planted in a creek bed because we ran out of space to plant them."

This is the third year for Koch's tree lot. He said he sells several hundred trees a year.

"We will cut as many as the market will bear," said Koch. "I hate to cut a tree and wind up just throwing it away," he explained.

"We'll cut 50 or more trees every week, depending on how quickly they are selling," he said.

Koch said most of the trees are in the 5- to 7-foot range. He said many of his trees are priced in the $14 range.

"There are so many trees available, I think the prices are going to be pretty good for the consumer," said Koch.

The Cape Girardeau veterinarian said Scotch pine are popular Christmas trees. "It shapes well. It maintains its color pretty well. It grows well in this climate."

State Rep. David Schwab sells Christmas trees. He owns a Christmas tree farm near Jackson, where customers can cut their own tree.

But Schwab's Pines also operates a tree lot in Cape Girardeau and supplies about a dozen other area tree lots.

In all, Schwab's Pines sells about 4,000 to 5,000 Christmas trees during the holiday season, said Phyllis Schwab, wife of David Schwab and co-owner of the enterprise.

The Schwab's Pines lot at the corner of Kingshighway and Broadway opened Wednesday afternoon.

Phyllis Schwab said the tree lot offers fresh-cut trees, most of them Scotch pine. Live trees and garland can also be purchased. "We do a type of (garland) roping that probably nobody else in this area does," she said. "It is the old-fashioned kind and beautiful."

She said a cut, 6-foot tree generally will cost about $23, with a 7-foot tree priced in the $28 to $30 range.

Sunny Hill Gardens in Cape Girardeau will be selling Scotch pine, hemlock, Norway spruce and white pine.

Owner Paul Schnare said he will be selling trees grown on his tree farm. Prices will range from $18 to $30 for cut trees and $30 to $60 for live trees.

About 1,000 trees are sold each Christmas season at David Kinder's tree lot, set up on the Schnucks parking lot.

"Scotch pine is the big seller," Kinder said Friday as he attached price tags to Christmas trees stacked in the lot.

In addition to Scotch pine, Kinder also sells Douglas fir, blue spruce and balsam.

The Cape Girardeau Evening Optimists Club has operated a Christmas tree lot for years.

The lot in the Town Plaza parking lot on William Street opened Friday morning.

"We will sell locally grown Scotch pine from Schwab's tree farm," said John O'Malley, the civic club's tree lot chairman.

"Also, we are about the only ones around that sell balsam trees, and those come in from Canada," he said.

O'Malley said the balsam trees grow faster and are less expensive.

The lot features trees in a wide range of sizes from 3-10 feet. "Classroom teachers like those small sizes. They can put them on the table," he explained.

O'Malley and other tree lot operators are hoping for some winter weather to help put people in the tree-buying mood.

"I think a little cold weather, a little snow puts everybody in the spirit and gets them out on the lot," O'Malley said.