To think natural Christmas trees are rubbish

[Grindelwaldswand]

Got our first real Christmas tree yesterday and it is useless its 6ft but has massive gaps in between the branches and it can't even hold a bauble on the tip of the branch without falling to the floor i had visions of an amazing tree that would fill the hluse with the smell of pine needles but its scentless. definitely getting a fake tree next year.

christmassanke t feels wrong to chop a tree down for a few weeks and then it dies

But these are grown for that purpose. If people didn't buy them then they wouldn't be planted in the first place.
If you buy a christmas tree from a reputable retailer ( which the majority are) these are not trees chopped down from woodland- they have been grown as a cash crop.
Far better for a trees to have lived 15 years sucking carbon dioxide out of the air than never existing?

There are lots of christmas tree plantations near where I live- I know mine travels only a few miles.

As for abandoned christmas trees in the street- you may well think that in the week after christmas where I live, but they are all sitting on the pavement waiting for the council who run a special service to collect them, and turn them into mulch to be used in council parks and recreation land.

PLASTIC TREES ARE NOT BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

There are several different types of trees on sales at Christmas, you've just got the wrong one.

Fake trees are shite.

Fake trees - you have to make them in factories using loads of chemicals and non renewable energy. They're probably shipped halfway across the world before being driven all over the UK to different warehouses before arriving in your local Argos/wherever.

Real trees - As other pp have mentioned they're planted as a crop, they literally only exist to produce Christmas trees. While they're growing they clean the air, probably balancing out the effect of the deliveries to shops. Actually I just Googled and they are carbon neutral Obviously you want the UK grown ones, as local as possible. Most are apparently grown in Scotland though, still not as bad as the plastic ones.

(Sorry OP)

Afishcalled - have a look at the peer-reviewed study I posted earlier! They are not necessarily carbon neutral. It depends how far people are driving to pick them up and how they are disposing of them too!

Not all fake trees are crap.

Some of them, especially the expensive ones are lovely.

My new fake tree is lovely and the real tree I had last year was lovely. I spent more on this tree in the hopes that it will last a long time. I am debating whether to get a small real one for my dining room though. They are selling some tiny ones right near my local shops for quite cheap.

I didn't have a real tree until I was about 30 years old. My mum hated the needles.

I think it's what you're brought up with.

Or the opposite. Growing up we always had a weedy little artificial one. Except one year the neighbours accidentally ended up with two real ones and kindly gave the spare to us. It was lovely, but when we came to take it down it shed a few needles and my house proud DM went mad and said it had "left a trail of destruction through the house", so that never happened again.

Once I had my own place I always had a real one.

We get a Nordmann. They hold their needles really well and, even if they don't smell as much as the other sort, they still do have quite a nice smell.

But , yes you have to take the time to choose it.

Oh and where I live there is a scheme where volunteers collect your tree after Christmas in return for a donation to the Hospice. The trees are then shredded and used for whatever it is you use shredded trees for. It's win - win-win. No mess and trouble to get rid if, tree doesn't go in landfill but does something useful and they raise thousands of pounds for the hospice.

Have been reading through all the comments,I would utterly love a real Xmas tree,the smell is divine,I'm just not comfortable with it dying...would it be mad to buy one with roots and plant in the garden after Xmas,has anyone done this and it been successful???

chrismassanke- but you like real flowers , vegetables or wooden furniture?
These are all cash crops planted for harvest.
Just like christmas trees.

Our old (very cheap fake) tree just got donated to DDs school who had a Christmas decorations appeal. Its 7ft and served us for 15 years. Still had plenty of life in it but last year we bought a (beautiful, expensive) new one and stored the old 'just in case' anyone wanted one. Very pleased the old one will get a new lease of life. New tree should last us at least 10 years if not more. Real trees look good outside but I'll never have one in the house.

We have a real one grown in the Christmas tree nursery next door to us.

We also have artificial trees in other rooms in the house. I like both.

some variety's of real trees smell some dont i personally dont like the soft touch ones they dont smell.I get Norway Spruce plus its spikiness deters the cat from climbing it

Christmassnake we have two growing Christmas trees in our back garden that started out as rooted indoor trees. They become pretty huge after a few years so be careful where you put them!

My mum has one too - she puts outdoor Christmas lights on hers as it's in the front garden

I would never have a fake tree, it takes away from the Christmas spirit for me. We go into the woods with a saw and harvest our own

Mindtroup,is it same as flowers..I don't know,I know I want a real one.i love the smell.twerp I'm thinking if I planted by my back window I could put lights on it....does everywhere sell them with roots?

Happy I hope you mean from your own private wood, or somewhere that you have permission to be cutting down trees?

Shove - Ok, but even if they aren't carbon neutral they're a damn sight closer to it than any fake tree ever will be, even if you have it for 20+ years...

I've got a real one in a tub that I'm about to carry inside to decorate in my porch. It's not that big though. Once it gets too big to cart around I'm going to plant it in my garden and put outdoor lights on it.

I don't know if everywhere sells them with roots, some places do, but it will limit the size of the tree you can have. Bigger trees have massive roots, too big for most living rooms.

Rooted ones tend to be sold in garden centres - they can be expensive & are usually pot-grown. Christmas tree farm type places usually cut them down rather than digging them up.

If you do plant one out keep it well-watered while it's in the house & then after planting for the first few months till it's growing properly. Make sure the roots are not just growing round & round in the shape of the pot - tease them out a bit.

Tricks that's my plan ,going to buy one

OP, have you considered chopping the bottom half (or third) of the tree off, then putting it on a table. I mean it would only work if the top bit is ok. But then you'd have a nice (but small) tree, and some branches to make garlands/table decorations with?

FlyingElbows Tue 06-Dec-16 09:27:04

I am with you Personally I'm not a fan of a Norman fir. I'm a spruce traditionalist. I want the smell and the needle drop

I strayed into nordman fir - to avoid needle drop, I got carried away on the " we dont want needle drop" then last year we couldnt really afford nordman and nothing was grabbing us - we strayed over the to old norway spruce, yes she spoke to us and it was glorious to have that smell again, the more vibrant green and YES NEEDLE DROP....presents covered in needle drop is my childhood xmas, and now is my DC....EMBRACE needle drop!
Spruce all the way for me now. love this thread op, sorry about your tree, you need GREEN tinsel.

The Norway spruce definitely has the best smell!

My £8 Woolworths tree will be 20 years old this Christmas. It looks pretty crap, but I love it because it's seen every Christmas for the past two decades. I bought it for my first Christmas away from home, when I was at uni, and now it's our family tree.