Residents warming to Kiwi trees at Christmas

Pohutukawa are becoming more popular. Photo/File

Christmas tree sales are up 20 per cent at Springvale Garden Centre - and pohutukawa trees are fast becoming a favourite for Wanganui residents.

The centre's general manager Gareth Carter reckons people are becoming nostalgic for real Christmas trees, rather than plastic ones.

"We live in a more plastic-orientated society and it's a way of getting back to basics," he said.

He likened it to growing your own vegetables instead of buying them - "You want it to be fresh, you want to have the story behind it."

And more people were buying pohutukawa to put a Kiwi twist on the holiday. Christmas was often a stressful time for people, Mr Carter said, and choosing a tree was one of the things families could enjoy together.

Last year was a record one for Christmas tree sales at the centre, and this year they had sold even more.

Alix Taylor, from Calix Wholesale Nursery, said she had not seen any change in Christmas tree sales over the past several years.

"Everybody will have their own choice, whether they want an artificial or a pine tree," Mrs Taylor said. "I don't think there's any particular trend."

She said people chose real trees for tradition and smell - "That's what they've always had".