Real or Artificial Trees... What do you do?

[kbkids]

I had a real tree for years!! Just loved the nostalgic feeling - taking the kids to the tree farm to pick it out and cut it down. Ohh, the memories! But my DH would complain all the time when it was time to get it out of the house about the mess and everything. Well, one year he was out of town, and I had to get it out of the house. That the year of our last real tree!! It was a big pain in the hiney!!

I go all out at Christmas now though and we have a tree in every room - even the bathrooms! I need quick and easy set ups now! We might splurge every now and then and get a real tree in the future, but for now, I love the ease of the artificial ones!

 

[ASFCurly]

I always have a real tree, and always plan on it, but I grew up on a Christmas Tree Farm, that my Dad still runs and I still help him out when I can. So it is a part of my daily life really.

 

[quiltymom]

I can't really vote since we do both! I love real trees and we cut ours down at a local tree farm. We don't purchase them from a lot.

But recently we have been away for Christmas, and instead of paying someone to come in and water it everyday while we're gone, we have resorted to a pre-lighted artificial one. It was a hand-me-down, otherwise we wouldn't have one. I always feel like I'm "cheating" when using this tree since I'm not spending a few hours placing the lights on the tree!

 

[debsays]

Real, Real, Real. There's SO much already taken out of Chirstmas. To us a real tree if the sign of life.

 

[timzagain]

I live in Barbados. "Real" Christmas trees have to be imported. By the time they get here, they're quite expensive and a bit worse for wear. The last time I bought a "real" tree was about 6 years ago! The trees were so bad that year were so bad that I was tempted not to buy one - ended up buying one just because the kids would have been very disappointed to have a tree-less Christmas. That year, we had a Christmas twig! I could hardly describe the specimen in my living room as a "tree!"

I bought artificial the next year - when I amortize the purchase price over the years I've used it, I realized that I saved a small fortune! There are other benefits - no needle shedding, no running around trying to find a good tree, etc.

I do miss the pine smell, but I learned a little trick from a friend - go to a lot where real trees are sold and asked for any broken branches that might be lying around. Stick a few real pieces discreetly among the artificial branches to get the Christmassy smell without the aggravation or expense.

The one drawback to an artificial 7ft tree - STORAGE!! It's always a pain!

 

[rparmfamily]

I'm a big fan of real ones. I worry about the lead in the fakes.

 

[rparmfamily]

Also, a real tree is better for the environment. They are a reusable resource and are biodigradable. Fakes are make out of plastic (petroleum product--not renewable) and metal and lead and never decompose.

That said, I understand why some people like fakes, especially prelit! But to me it's not Christmas without a real one.

 

[MinMouse]

Real trees for us here! We go to the tree farm and cut it down every year. It's a tradition that our family loves. DH teases me every year that we're getting an artificial tree. He knows it is one battle he will not win any time soon!

 

[D&DDisney]

Still lovin' our fake tree after 17 years! Can't justify paying $40 or more for something that I have to water, clean up after, and will throw into the chipper after a few weeks.
I disagree that fake trees are not environmentally friendly. They are only if you toss them year after year.

 

[htmom]

Fake! I can never get a real tree to look "right" I am extremely anal about my tree (my mom was a decorator for the Tour of Homes in Hershey when I was a kid, our home was always a stop) We always had a fake tree in our living room because in doing all the other trees mom didn't have time to put ours up and take it down "in time" so she always put it up after Halloween and left it up until New Years. I still do that with my tree as a way of remembering her.

 

[ah1126]

I grew up with a real tree and now that us kids are older my parents have gone fake. In our house a fake is not even an option. I am from WV and now live in FL. I told my husband if I have to have the holidays in FL where it is HOT for Christmas I get to have a real tree! It is so hard to get into the holiday spirit when you have your air conditioner going.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

Artificial here! We broke down and got a prelit one last year, OMG, is that great!!

Same here! Last year we got a 12' pre-lit tree at Costco. DH loved it so much he went out and bought a 9' pre-lit for the foyer and a 7' pre-lit for the living room. I've got a hankering this year for a 7.5' pre-lit slim for the breakfast nook. We LOVE the pre-lit trees!!!!!! Our trees are already up (DH LOVES Christmas!!!) so we need artificial ;-)

 

[EMom]

Real, Real, Real. There's SO much already taken out of Chirstmas. To us a real tree if the sign of life.

To us, a real tree is a sign of hundreds of dollars in copays for allergists visits and prescriptions drugs.

Ho, ho, ho! No, no, no!

 

[luvtogo12]

Fake for us but I would love a real one.

 

[jenrose66]

I have allergies, so the real tree is a challenge for me. I did have them for a couple years because dh grew up with them. Besides the allergies I found the needles to be sharp and messy, but I don't begrudge those with real trees.

 

[HunnyPots]

We used to get a real tree every year when we had a local tree farm. It was so much fun to go out on the hayride, pick out our tree, and cut it down ourselves. Some of our best family memories! But then the farm was stricken by some kind of tree disease and lost all of their trees. They never recovered. I really miss those days!

But on the other hand, mine and ds's alleriges are not nearly as bad, there are no messy needles to clean up on a daily basis, no worry of the tree drying out and catching fire, and the tree always looks perfect!

 

[D&DDisney]

Bumping to avoid death of a thread

 

[Teacher510]

I never thought that I would have an artificial tree but after years of fun picking our tree from a farm we had to go out three days before Christmas since our tree was leaning to one side (after being up for several days) because the trunk was so thin and soft! DD and I looked like the Grinch and Max as we carted the tree outside at midnight after the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert! Right before the concert we had to undecorate the tree and run to the store to see what was left tree-wise. We got a nice floor sample which I put up and decorated the next day while DD was at work-luckily school was out for me. This experience made it much easier to transition to the artificial! The tree farm has also gotten too commercial of late so it was time...

 

[mrincredible2008]

artificial........no fire hazard........no mess.......

 

[tchrrx]

We do artificial just b/c that's how we were both raised. We were watching "Christmas with the Kranks" earlier today & it mentioned a real tree costing about $90. Is that accurate? We were shocked by that price b/c we thought they'd be much cheaper. Sorry to go off topic, but I was curious!