Doug Banker, who manages Kuhn’s Tree Farm in Boalsburg, says the farm has no trees over 8 feet this year and advises customers who want something taller to shop early, according to the Altoona Mirror. He is one of several central Pennsylvania growers who described the season this month, and the April freeze came up at more than one farm. Douglas and Concolor firs took the worst of it, while the overall supply picture across the industry looks sound.
What the April freeze did to the firs
Penn State Extension’s weekly scouting reports tracked the cold as it arrived. A report covering April 16 to 23 described a strong cold front that followed a warm spell reaching the 80s and low 90s in southeastern Pennsylvania. Temperatures dropped 40 to 50 degrees in some places, with overnight lows in the mid-20s to 30s in colder pockets.
The timing mattered because Douglas fir and Fraser fir had pushed out tender new growth early. The report said low-lying and sheltered spots, where cold air settles, carried the highest risk of needle distortion and uneven development.
A week later, the April 30 report called the injury “limited and inconsistent.” Douglas fir showed the most noticeable damage, with Concolor fir also hurt. In a York County sample of 120 branch tips on 12 trees, damage averaged about 20 percent, with wide differences from tree to tree. Elsewhere it usually touched 10 to 20 percent or fewer of the growing tips. Northern Pennsylvania saw little damage because most buds had not broken yet…