Buy local: Hawkesbury Christmas trees and alternatives

But the message is 'get in quick', according to Will Cappello, co-owner of Willy's Christmas Tree Farm, a family-run grower in Vineyard.

"Get in early," he said, "around late November or the first week of December, because they will run out."

If you're looking for a cut Christmas tree, Mr Cappello recommended making sure it's been cut fresh - in the last 24 hours.

"Before you put it in the stand at home, cut the bottom of the trunk off about one centimetre, and it goes inside the house in a nice cool spot, and it needs water every day," Mr Cappello said.

Willy's sells Christmas tree stands, as do hardware stores and nurseries. They hold the tree up and they also hold water.

Willy's grows the pinus radiata variety of Christmas tree which takes four years to grow to around seven feet tall. The trees this year will start at around five-and-a-half feet and go up to around eight feet tall - not quite as tall as some previous years.

"We normally have nine, 10, 11, 12-foot trees but they're in a shortage at the moment," Mr Cappello said.

"The last two years have been horrific, especially for us being close to the Hawkesbury River. We had one flood last year where the trees were a metre underwater, in February they were 1.2 metres under, and in March they were 1.4 metres underwater.

"Some of the larger ones have recovered - about a 50 per cent strike rate - but the little ones under a metre are all dead."

Willy's Christmas Tree Farm is located at 281 Windsor Road, Vineyard, and trees will go on sale from 9am on Saturday, November 26 until December 23 - or until sold out.

If you're after a potted alternative or something smaller, all good nurseries sell these including Sully's Nursery at Kurmond, owned by Ben Sullivan.

His top pick this year is the woolly bush or adenanthos sericeus, an upright evergreen shrub native to WA that resembles a traditional pine tree but offers softer foliage.

"They go great in pots, and they plant best in a native, premium-certified potting mix - that way they get all the nutrients necessary to last a long time," Mr Sullivan said.

It's best to keep your potted woolly bush outside in full sun until it's time to decorate it, and then you can bring it into a well-lit room and take it outside once a week "for a good water and drain".

Mr Sullivan said woolly bush's size made it perfect for apartments, tight spaces and offices.

"You could hold on to it and grow it well and the next year it will grow even bigger," Mr Sullivan said.

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Sully's also has potted Christmas trees, including picea glauca 'Christmas Star' which are also more compact in size than regular cut Christmas trees.

Mr Sullivan also warned buyers to get in quick as numbers were limited due to the weather affecting growing conditions.