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.