Real or fake Christmas trees ? Lighthearted

[genuinequestion21]

I've not been a very Christmassy person my whole life. So I never decorated for Christmas. So it's all a bit new for me.

I'm a mum now and I got my first Christmas tree last year and went all out for my DD.

I got a fake one last year as it needed to fit into a specific space.

Anyhow, I'm in a bigger house this year and can get whichever tree.

Now the debate has started- fake or real ? What are the benefits of each ?

My in laws are super anti real, whereas my family is super anti fake. I want to get a real one, my husband wants a fake.

I bought a real one today. Any tips on how to maintain it etc ?

This seems a contentious subject. My in laws will definitely comment on it..

I said to my husband, worse comes to worse, we put in in the garden with just lights.

It has to be a real tree for me. The lovely, fresh pine smell of it makes it feel Christmassy. You've bought too early though I hate to say, it won't last until Christmas.

I'm a florist and I have fake at home. I've had mine for 11 years so far and it will do many more. Yes it's plastic but it has only been manufactured once and shipped once. Every real tree is also shipped ( this year a lot are coming from Denmark) so over a lifetime of buying real trees your eco footprint is pretty big. They are intensively farmed and that takes a lot of water and soil erosion can be a real problem, even on the most sustainable farms. Wastage is a huge problem in the industry - demand is unpredictable and most suppliers are ordering back in July so a lot just end up on the scrap heap, whereas with fake it can just be sold next year.

It's too early even for non drop trees to be inside. They'll look dull and dry by Christmas. Watering them does nothing unless you cut a proper chunk off the bottom and saw up into the trunk parallel to the side until you can see sap- put that in water and it has a better chance of lasting.

We normally get a no drop one early December with no drying out problems - in fact normally it doesn’t shed its needles until March/April as it just lives in the garden for a month or two after January 6th!

I think you’ve bought it too early, sorry.
Now is absolutely fine if it’s non-drop and you keep it well watered.

Fake fake fake, to be ceremonially brought down from the loft each year and tenderly returned come January.

Anyone who throws their tree out after one season is a monster.

(I also read Hans Christian Andersen The Fir Tree when I was little and I cried)

As you already own a fake one and as you’ve just bought a real one and have a bigger house then have both up and please everyone.

Ah no ! Those saying I got it too early !

What about if I leave it outside and water it ? Will it last longer ? I'm not here anyway on actual Christmas - leaving 23rd though, so cutting it fine.

Can I avoid it dying by leaving it outside and watering ?

Any advice appreciated. Christmas tree novice.

I also have no idea how it was grown.

Always real, by virtue of living in small flats with nowhere to store a fake one the other 11 months of the year. Buy it from B&Q usually about £25 and then after New Year I pay the local hospice volunteers to come and collect it, they chip them all and then sell the chippings so they get 2 income streams.

The Christmas after I separated from my EXH I couldn't face going to the garden centre to choose the tree like we'd always done, so I got a fake. I hated it and sold it on a FB page right after Christmas

Ps. Also have a cat and he's never been bothered by the tree or the needles. He was much more disturbed by / interested in the great big alien plastic tree than he ever has been by a real one.

I like real but they need to be well watered. Don’t let it dry out at all. My last real one was held together by baubles and lights at the end of the season, dropped all its needles. Over here they get recycled, there is a beach that takes them to protect the sand dunes through winter. I’ve now got a fake one, it’s fine

I like real trees but I'm also very attached to the two fake ones we have. One is 60+ years old and one is getting on for 25.

I'll be using them until they physically can't stand up anymore. To me they are Christmas.

I also prefer a real one but realise that's a privilege (cost) that not everyone can enjoy.

OP you can soak the roots to give it a longer life especially if you keep it away from a direct heat source. What kind of base do you have?

Real. I really dislike fake ones. The only just about acceptable fake are white & silver - so, very very obviously fake and kitsch.

I too would rather go without than have a fake one.

Big mistake buying a real one now.

Will be brown and crispy bt christmas.

If you want a real one you have to wait until much closer to christmas, so it is still vibrant and smelling good by christmas day.

I have 3 trees- main one is huge and real, one in the garden room at the back of the house and one in the porch.

@genuinequestion21

Ah no ! Those saying I got it too early !

What about if I leave it outside and water it ? Will it last longer ? I'm not here anyway on actual Christmas - leaving 23rd though, so cutting it fine.

Can I avoid it dying by leaving it outside and watering ?

Any advice appreciated. Christmas tree novice.

Saw a couple of inches off the end of the trunk and keep it in water.

We have a strange shaped flat so need one a particular size. We can't justify a real one every year. We've had our fake one 7 years now and still looks fine.

Neither. I will have some strings of fairy lights, a vase fully of holly, and any Christmas cards pinned to a ribbon.

@speakout

Big mistake buying a real one now.

Will be brown and crispy bt christmas.

If you want a real one you have to wait until much closer to christmas, so it is still vibrant and smelling good by christmas day.

I have 3 trees- main one is huge and real, one in the garden room at the back of the house and one in the porch.

Same, lesson learned! I ritually water the thing but it's still looking half dead. Next time I'll buy it in December

I have a base that can take water. Might leave it outside for a week or so, in water and see how it goes !

My mums always seems to survive.

Real.
Bought from a local Christmas Tree farm.

Won't get it til nearer Christmas though.

Real one for us. We pick and cut down our tree so it's not true that every real tree is shipped over @DedalusBloom.
We water it often and keep it way from the radiator and they don't drop that many needles and still looks good by the time we take it down and compost it. The farm we get it from plants more trees than it cuts down. We don't get it this early though, maybe around the 8th December

I have always had a real tree until last year. I got a brilliant fake one off very it was £180 but it will last years.

I get my real tree around the 10th December and I don't take my natural decorations down until Candlemas 2nd February and it's just a bit droopy. It's in the bay window and my house isn't hot, though. I pay a bit more for mine £45, as opposed to Aldi/B&M, so they might vary in quality.
I don't have issues with needless, my male cat takes no interest in going near it.

Fake inside, two real ones on either side of the bottom of the driveway.
We are wealthy working class about to retire because you can't post about this kind of thing on MN without practically stating your net worth.

@Zenithbear

Fake inside, two real ones on either side of the bottom of the driveway. We are wealthy working class about to retire because you can't post about this kind of thing on MN without practically stating your net worth.

It was pretty expensive - with the stand. 95