Christmas tree demand is outstripping supply this holiday season

SPRING GROVE, Ill. (CBS) -- We're just 10 days to Christmas – do you have your tree ready for presents?

If you're still looking for a tree, you might discover they're hard to find now. CBS 2's Sara Machi showed us why Thursday.

At Richardson Farm near Spring Grove in McHenry County, there is no shortage of trees.

"Every tree gets shaped every year," said Christmas tree grower George Richardson. "They get a little haircut to keep them that nice shape.

But the Christmas tree sales are over.

"We were only open for three weekends this year," Richardson said. "Typically, going back five years ago, we would've been open longer."

Richardson says they have well over 100,000 trees on their property, but still not enough to feed demand - a problem that branches back farther than you might realize.

"That goes all the way back to the economic downturn of 2008," said Jill Sidebottom, seasonal spokesperson for the National Christmas Tree Association.

Experts say growers cut back when consumers started saving their own green watching what they spent in the Great Recession. That and other industry trends are still affecting customers today.

"Do people realize that? Well, no," Richardson said. "I think they are mostly concerned with what we have right now."

Richardson says the Christmas tree business is a balancing act. Trends today affect what they plant, which then affects customers for the next decade.

"It takes a while to get that train up and chugging again at and up to speed," Sidebottom said.

But Christmas tree retailers are planting for the future.

"It's about two more years away from where we will have a really good supply," Richardson.

And the tradition will going at his five-generation family farm.

Richardson says the farm is also seeing some new customers turn to real trees because they're locally grown and sustainable.

Representatives for the National Christmas Tree Association say you should still be able to find trees this year. They just might be shorter, more expensive, or a different variety than you wanted.