Is your Christmas tree losing needles a little early?

Is your Christmas tree already shedding needles? If so, you might be able to blame climate change for that.

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Many holiday customers buy noble firs for Christmas trees because the native trees are known for retaining their pine needles through the weeks. But these trees tend to lose needles when the growing seasons are warmer. Add to that, climate change in general is making it harder to grow this tree crop.

Gary Chastagner, aka "Dr. Christmas Tree," is a plant pathologist at Washington State University. He says that when noble firs grow in excessively wet soil, they become vulnerable to root rot caused by mold, called Phytophthora.

“Normal precipitation patterns, you don't have the periods of saturated soil because the soil has fairly good drainage," Chastagner says. "But if we have increased amounts of precipitation, more favorable for the growth of Phytophthora in the soil."

Chastagner is bringing foreign species, like the Turkish fir, to the Northwest because they grow better in warmer weather and are more likely to remain disease free.

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