Real or fake tree this Christmas?

[Ditsyprint40]

We've had a fake one for the last few years, and I really want a real tree this Christmas but am coming up against opposition!

What are your preferences?

[timeforabrewnow]

Marking place, as we have had fake one for past 6 years and would love a real one - not sure if I'm ready to face the extra expense and pine needles dropping tho

[noramum]

Always real, fake is never an option in our house. Yes, I spend £75 for 2 weeks but a fake one is not Christmassy for me.

On top of that, we use real candles, a no-go with fake.

[CannotEvenDeal]

You can't beat the smell of a real tree!!

[HairsprayBabe]

we have a fake because we don't have a car and I can't get the tree here other wise! Don't want it delivered as it detracts from the "magic" of picking the tree in the first place!

DM and DF have a real one, and I go with them when they get it so I'm not missing out!

[Ditsyprint40]

I'm definitely sold 🙈

[smEGGontoast]

Fake for us too. Kids and cats...I think a real one would be a disaster!

i even fake the smell of a real tree!

[ShowMeTheElf]

We have a real one for the family (in living room), a fake one in the playroom/conservatory which is covered with every decoration the DCs have ever made: from nursery handprints upwards into competent crafting. We make new bits every year.
Choosing the tree is a family outing. One of the DCs has a birthday in early December so we do nothing until after then, but once that date is passed we're out together at the first opportunity: always the same place, to choose the family tree.

[BiddyPop]

This year it will be the fake, as we are away from 23-28th and have no one to water a real one. If we stay at home, it's almost always a real one.

I have a fake that I bought for the very first Christmas in our first home - I only moved in over New Year and we got married a month later. It was dirt cheap from Primark, and we got a decent handful of cheap baubles for it. I would love to get a decent fake, but the current one has probably been used almost 10 times so far and still looks surprisingly good considering the cost and number of uses.

[CharminglyGawky]

Fake every time!

I don't think the real tree smell is very special, the sap never ever washes off anything, even the non drop trees drop needles, you have to worry about keeping the darn things alive, you can never be quite sure of the shape when they are all trussed up, getting them to stand perfectly straight in their little holders is a faff and getting needles out of the car afterwards takes months!

Plus they are actually less environmentally friendly than fake trees what with all the fuel costs of cutting so many trees down and shipping them around the place. (Well unless you frequently replace your fake trees anyway, I think a fake tree become the more environmentally friendly option after 8 years, my parents tree was bought over 50 years ago and is still going strong, it's turned into a bit of an heirloom now!)

Unless you plan on getting a live potted one, they are actually alive and are reusable year after year, I like them!

[FinallyHere]

After much agonising, we have a pre-lit fake one, which is sooo easy to decorate, no lighted to be sorted out and distributed over the tree. I always buy a couple of boughs of pine to use somewhere , usually the coffee table, with a few stubbie candles and a couole of decorations so we still have the lovely smell.

[allegretto]

I think fake. We got a real one from Ikea a few years ago and it was a pain to get in the car and a pain to get rid of afterwards - all of which I would have put up with except it didn't smell of tree which was the whole reason for its purchase!

[lalaloopyhead]

We have a large fake one in the dining room and a smaller real one in the living room. We had a real one in both a few years ago and I have to say I do prefer a real one, but I just can't justify the expense every year.

[ApplesinmyPocket]

Real, and going to choose it from the local tree farm (very primitive, muddy) taking it to be bagged in the bagging thingy, then trying to get it into the boot (poking spikily out over the left shoulder of the front seat passenger, who always grumbles ) is a Christmas tradition we'll never break if we can help it.

£25 for a 5 ft tree last year, it was very fresh and hardly dropped, though we leave it outside till about a week before the Day.

Changed my life when we threw out the 'wobbly tripod' we struggled to force its thick trunk into and stabilise every year, and bought a cast iron stand with a big footprint. Much easier!

Ours do have a scent, I think it's a different variety that doesn't, perhaps the non-drop type.

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

Fake as real ones hospitalise DD.

[WalterWhitesNipple]

Fake.every.time.

[FlossieFrog]

Real. We've been living abroad in a hot country for 3 years, can't wait to go to the Christmas tree farm with our 3 year old to choose a tree. If it's snowy that will be a bonus!

[MrsDilligaf]

Fake... although as soon as we have space for 2 trees I will revert back to a real one in the lounge and the stupidly huge fake one can go eleswhere.

DH bought the fake one last year. It is lovely, it cost a bomb but it's not the same as a real one. In fairness to him, he bought it because the real ones we saw were scraggy looking things and after going to 4 different places none of them were much good.

[LokisUnderpants]

Real tree for us too. The smell is just amazing and it is not Christmas without it.

[Toffeelatteplease]

fake.

Don't have to worry about needles falling on the carpet or destroying it while I'm busy decorating it.

Can't have a real tree up as long as i want to (ALL December) and a real tree waste of money every year.

pah! of course it can be Christmas without a real tree.

[NotAMammy]

We got our first ever real one last year and I'm never going back. Real4lyfe now! We go away for Christmas every year so we have it looking glorious up until we leave.
It gave me happy feelings every day to look at it.

[IfartInYourGeneralDirection]

Fake. It upset ds1 when we went to pick a real tree 10 years ago. He was horrified with kilimg a tree just fir Christmas. He a big teen now but his dramatic hysterics have ruined it for me still.


I will wait till he leaves home then get real ones

[Soupandasandwich]

Fake. The smell of pine makes me feel ill - who wants the smell of toilet cleaner all through the house. Much prefer my fake pre-lit tree. I can add a warm christmassy smell with pot-pourri, candles and spices on the tree. Lovely.

[Pagerty]

Absolutely real.

That is one of my fondest childhood Christmas memories, going to choose the tree. We went to the same place every year (everyone from our neighbourhood did), my dad always chose the biggest one, we always struggled to get it home and it was always too big for our sitting room. Precious memories.

Since we have had ds2 we have done the same. We go to this fab place where you can make a day of it, the trees are freshly cut and you can see them before they are wrapped. They cost less than they do at a garden centre and the highlight of the trip for ds is having it towed to our car by a Newfoundland dog on a little cart with his elf/owner (They raise money for charity each year).

Its a Christmas tradition that I love and one that I hope stays with ds as it has with me.

[poochiepants]

Always real! Having spent a few years in the Southern Hemisphere where christmas is hot & sunny & without real trees, followed by a year in Canada in an apartment block that banned real trees, I can't wait to smell the pine fragrance in our home in a few weeks time....

[Kel1234]

Always fake for us. I couldn't handle the mess of a real one