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

[stacy347]

Real! If DH didn't chop it down, it's not going in my living room

 

[veraletta]

This year its going to be a real tree, in 35 years I've only had a real tree 4 times.
I know I'm going to be sorry as my son and I will have to deal with allergies.
artificial trees can look real but they don't smell real.

 

[NMW]

I voted artificial. I bought a new one last year that comes in 3 sections. It's the most awesome thing. Takes minutes to put up, looks very real. My middle son has asthma and allergies and the few years we had real trees, he would be sick (runny nose, cough) and his asthma really bothered him 3 years ago (our last real tree year).

A big plus for me is that fake tree branches are all equally as strong. So, you can hang a heavy ornament on any branch without it drooping like crazy. You don't have to wrap hooks around branches either, so it's easier to un-decorate.

The mess didn't really bother me. I have hard wood floors in my family room, so the needles were pretty easy to get up.

WE sometimes had trouble putting up real trees. One year a half decorated tree fell over and broke some ornaments. One year DH was so disgusted with a tree that kept falling that he actually threw it out on the side of the house and told me we had to get a new one because there was no way that tree was coming back in our house. We had the best luck with live trees we got at Home Depot a couple years in a row. The drilled a hole into the tree and checked to make sure the tree stand (that we bought there) fit perfectly.

It's so much easier and less stressfull with the fake trees. This year the tree was up in minutes. I peacefully decorated while DH and I had some Sam Adams Winter Lager and watched football. Perfect!

 

[budbeerlady]

Real tree, we live on 10 acres of an old Christmas tree farm. Not too bad if you are just dragging it thru your own yard!

Growing up we went to the same place every year the day after Thanksgiving to pick out the tree. Then my Dad would hand saw it down and we would all help drag it out. Good times but now that they are empty nesters they got a fake tree last year.

 

[If U Had Wings]

I prefer real trees by a long shot. For me there is nothing quite like that smell of pine of a real tree. Some of my favorite memories of Christmas are of going to the tree farm to cut down the tree with my father and brother. (My mother does not handle cold well and stayed at home). Sometimes my aunt would come along to pick her tree out as well.

I had real trees when I first moved out and had roomates. We rented houses so we had plenty of room, and it was easy to get rid of them at the end of the season.

What I actually have now is a 30+ year old fake tree that my parents used when they first got married. I live in a condo and it's just way too difficult to have a real tree. Plus my place is tiny, and I can configure the fake tree so that there are no branches in the back so I can fit it into a corner. A real one would take over the entire place. I still am tempted by it every year.

 

[HopperFan]

I prefer and I have BOTH !

Live (at least until they cut it ) 9 ft with all our ornaments collected and made over the years and it smells so good.

Fake 8 ft pre lit with all my Disney Storybook Ornaments. They are too heavy for a live tree (I tried).

5 ft slender fake tree with my pewter ornaments I've collected for 20 years - mostly one kind from Nova Scotia, several of those bought in EPCOT Canada.

And then an assortment of others, 4 ft fiber optic in rec room, 2 ft fiber optic in kids rooms, and lots of the small ones of all different heights and mediums.

 

[aterriq]

Fake tree.

Bought a 7 foot pre lit tree for $50 at WalMart right after Christmas. It had a great discount and was the last one at the store.

If we want the pine smell, we get a real wreath.

 

[mrincredible2008]

Fake tree.

Bought a 7 foot pre lit tree for $50 at WalMart right after Christmas. It had a great discount and was the last one at the store.

If we want the pine smell, we get a real wreath.

WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT WALMART. ALL MY ARTIFICIALS ARE FROM WALLY WORLD. JUST FINISHED PUTTING UP NO.3 AND CONTEMPLATING NO.4