Come all to me about real Christmas trees please

[5inthebed]

I've always had artificial ones, but really fancy a real one.

Are they hard to maintain? Do I need to water them at all to stop the needles dropping out? Will my cats try hide in them? And anything else you can tell me please

TIA

We only put ours up around the 23rd Dec which probably helps a little, and keep it outside if it arrives earlier. But we do have a reservoir for water in our tree stand too. A few needles do still drop out, but not excessively.

If your cats are anything like mine then I suspect they'll have fun swatting the tree decorations.

Now I have my own house & am settled, we always have real ones. It's a big waste of money but is something I love & have such strong memories of our trees when I was young... to me, it is worth it.

How you look after them depends a little on the variety & whether you get a potted one or a cut one. TBH, the potted ones always die before the next christmas so I don't get them any more. I buy from our local Forestry commission place. I always say I won't get one that drops needles but since they are the ones that smell good, I give in and get one.

If you want them to retain their needles, you should put them away from a radiator and water every day.

Don't know about cats but my dog saw the tree & did a poo under it.

We had a real tree for the first time last year and the difference is amazing! Way more Christmassy, the smell is amazing, yes the needles do drop out but we had ours kind of in a corner so it wasn't really noticeable.

I think we put ours in a biiiig ceramic planter with a mix of small/large stones around the trunk then poured water in. Seemed to last fine but don't get one too early.

Don't water with water; water with lemonade!

Really? Why lemonade?

All should read talk

Thanks everyone. When is the best time to buy one do you think?

Ikea have them for £25 and you get a £20 voucher to spend in January, one of the things inspiring me to undone. I also have gotten rid of my artificial tree so need to buy another, need to decide what.

We had our first last year and after hearing lots of people talk about what an absolute nightmare they were to clean up after I was very very surprised to find that actually there was minimal needles that dropped.. Wasn't messy at all. We had the traditional tree as well, not an anti-drop one. (Sorry, mind gone blank on tree names).

We had ours delivered on the 30th of Nov from an online tree store. It didn't go down until the 2nd of Jan and was still very much the same as what it arrived.. It wasn't bare at all.. Perhaps we got lucky, I don't know.

We bought a tree stand which the stump of the tree slots into and you fill the stand with water. It generally doesn't need doing every day, I think I topped ours up once every 3 days?

The smell is divine. I'd never have a fake one again, even though the real ones cost more.

We usually have a fresh one, we have a stand that you fill with water - and remember to top it up! The tree can drink more than a pint per day.

We've tried the Norway Spruces - lovely lovely scent, but sharp needles (which is also a nuisance then you're putting it up and decorating) and more prone to dropping them despite watering.

And we've had Norman Firs, softer needles, no scent reallly, but much more easy-care. Drops some needles but not as many and they're not sharp should you step in them...

So every year we naeed to decide all over what we prefer...

What I need now is some authentic Spruce-type essential oil / scent to put in the tree water - does this exist?

I have to add that our tree usually goes up in the first week, around the 6th (St Nicolas Day)

We have had good years and bad years with ours Two years ago we had to chuck out about the 22nd as the needles nearly all dropped off and we had to put up a fake one.I now tend to get the smaller ones.If you live near Ikea and can wait till a few days before Christmas they will probably be giving them away literally.Thats what happened to us one year .There were no vouchers involved though.Well worth it for the smell and even the way the baubles hang.Way more Christmassy

Whatever you do, don't buy one that has it's trunk in a piece of wood to act as a stand. I see these every Dec at our local market, and they just won't look good or last.

When you choose one, look at it before it gets wrapped in netting, and give it a shake. If loads of needles drop off, don't buy it. Feel the needles, are they green and flexible to the touch? If so it is quite fresh. Always saw off a few centimetres from the trunk just before you put it in the stand or planter, to open up the water channels so that it can take up water. If you buy your tree a few days before you are ready to decorate it, you can still saw the bit off and stand in a bucket of water in the garage or shed, or back garden.

I think the cat problem is universal, although mine didn't climb real trees, they liked to pick off the odd bauble to play with and anything with feathers! I had more bother with my current cat who liked to climb the artificial tree, although she isn't bothered anymore but likes to rummage under the tree skirt in case there are things to play with under it!

I always get two real trees. One for the kitchen and one for the sitting room. The one in the kitchen ends up just beside the Stanley range cooker which has insane heat coming from it and never really looses many needles, I water it every other day! It goes up the first or second Sunday in December and comes down the day after little Christmas. I would highly recommend a real tree!