Balsam Hill tree - Rubbish!!

[girlcrushonvillanelle]

For the past few years I have wanted a balsam hill tree. I had read so many good things about them and had often spent £50-£70 on a real tree to then dump in my compost bin in January.

I didn't want to splash too much cash so I bought one that was £200.

Well it was rubbish!!! It's going straight back on Monday. I have replaced it today with a £40 real one.

Anyone else not pleased with theirs?

Ah that's disappointing @girlcrushonvillanelle, it looks really sparse. We have 2 balsam hill trees, a 5ft and a 7ft and I think both look great! They did take a lot of fluffing though. Our 7ft one was £209 this year in the Black Friday sale

It's fine, but not worth £200 imo. That's 5 years of real trees. How long do they last?

We want to do the adopt a tree thing next year. See how that goes. My parents used to have a nice fake tree and it was a bit of a faff to put up tbh, as you had to find all the branches and slot them in, then floof. Is that similar to BH?

Cross posted, if you didn’t want a bushy one, then you’ve just got to spread the branches out and dress it.

The shape holds the following year, so even though it’s back in its bag, you take it out and it falls back into place. You don’t need to wear the gloves! But you do need to faff.

@Bluntness100

Tree, it does look lovely there. It’s supposed to look like natural trees on the mountains which it does,

Very odd thread, it’s like posting I’ve always wanted a black all saints leather jacket and then ordering a red one and saying well that looks shite, it’s friggen red! I’m really disappointed.

Reminds me of skiing! Bloody love an alpine tree

@VanityWitch

It's fine, but not worth £200 imo. That's 5 years of real trees. How long do they last?

We want to do the adopt a tree thing next year. See how that goes. My parents used to have a nice fake tree and it was a bit of a faff to put up tbh, as you had to find all the branches and slot them in, then floof. Is that similar to BH?

No, it’s three sections that slot together that’s it.

The prelit ones you need to slot ends into the power unit, mines got seven I think,

Mines five years old and as good as new, although it’s heavily dressed this year 😃

@VanityWitch

It's fine, but not worth £200 imo. That's 5 years of real trees. How long do they last?

We want to do the adopt a tree thing next year. See how that goes. My parents used to have a nice fake tree and it was a bit of a faff to put up tbh, as you had to find all the branches and slot them in, then floof. Is that similar to BH?

Well it's plastic, so 400 years give or take

I’ve just bought one for £139 from White Stores. It’s a 7ft Oregon Pine and it’s perfect. I was a real tree snob for years but am converted. It’s a great shape and very realistic. I just miss the smell.

Agree that this thread is hilarious!

'Im so annoyed i got exactly what i ordered!!'

..........😂

Well it's plastic, so 400 years give or take

I got mine in the sale this year. I went by the excellent reviews. I got the Nordmann fir which was supposed to be the most realistic.

I paid £300 for it - the normal price was £550. To be honest I'm fairly happy with it. As others have said - it took ages to fluff it up. But I still think it looks fake! If I'd paid full price I would've been disappointed.

Here it is.

I imagine that the value of a £200 + Christmas tree isnt neccessarily all in the first appearance the year you buy it. Its the fact that year after year after year its going to stay nice.

I have a cheap (£30/£40ish) artificial tree, and 3 years in its defo not looking very healthy this year. Planning on getting a nice one for next year and hoping it'll last a bit better.

I felt it as cheap and nasty for £200, I feel that although I ordered the alpine one, I thought it would be more realistic. But it looked awful!

It wasn't worth £200 in my opinion.

I don't see why that is so odd or hilarious TBH.

That happens when you buy things online without seeing them in the flesh. It's not that unusual.

Op if you fluff it it will look exactly like the image of what you bought. That’s why people are amused and bemused.

Clearly you thought you wanted a sparse one but didn’t. Because you went straight out and bought a full one.

These trees don’t look cheap and nasty. You’re just disappointed it’s sparse looking and haven’t bothered shaping it.

This is going to sound like I’m being really rude but your one looks very like the one in the advert.
Do you mean that the finish isn’t very good?

Ours is a 20 year old one from Woolies which must have been super cheap as we were broke then.

I've got the 6ft alpine. Wouldn't have paid full price for it - I think it was a bit steep at £119 tbh. I like that it's sparse - you can see the decorations better. I chose mine because I thought the cat would be less likely to jump into a delicate tree than a full on bushy one. I think the needles are nice and realistic but it does feel flimsy. I'm not sure how long it will last. I do think it's pretty though.

Fake trees always look fake and are worse for the environment.

I would say the longer branches at the top should be down nearer the bottom but it does look a bit sad.

They just don't match the hype that I have read over the years.

It's a rubbish photo, but it's back in the box now. But I did spend quite a while floofing it and trying to get it to work.

I just expected better quality and for it to be nicer.

3 hours to put up a Christmas tree?!

Winnie trees irl don't have lights and baubles on them, or exist in people's living rooms! I don't see that it matters if a Christmas tree is false. It might be worse for the environment but fake trees are definitely better for people who own cats.

@WinWinnieTheWay

Fake trees always look fake and are worse for the environment.

Than what, cutting down real ones? Then disposing of them, You sure about that?

My BH tree (first pic) looks nothing like my B&Q one but I didn’t expect it to. It does look more realistic though whereas the b&q one looks fuller. I love them both...and so does my kitten!!

We have a very expensive BH one and love it. It does take 3 hours and special gloves and is one of the 7 feet ones, but it's worth it every year.

I was looking at that one on the web site today. Thought it looked lovely with lots of room for the decs to hang, as in a Pp picture.

We had a BH tree for the first time last year. We've just got it out again and put all the lights on. I bought extra lights for it this year as they take a lot more lights than a real tree. It's not the same as a real tree, and the shape is to perfect to be natural but I do love it.

Love everyone's trees
This is last years and today with just the lights on--

I think locally grown real trees are meant to be the best option for the environment. Or I guess not having one at all, but that sounds quite joyless. According to one of these articles, some real trees have a minus impact on emissions.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/real-or-fake-christmas-tree-what-s-better-for-the-environment-1.4088198%3fmode=amp