Real tree or not?

[Crumblinginside]

I have a very nice tree but at the grand age of 40 plus I've never had a real tree.
My friend said hers dried out and she was afraid of fire risk?

Are the real ones messy ?

First World problem I know

We had a fake tree growing up but DH always had a real one so we went for a real our first year in our house. I loved it. It makes the house smell beautiful and feels really Christmassy.

However, they do take some care.
When you get it home you need to cut a few cms off the base as the sap dries over the bottom in the shop/lot so it can’t take up as much water and it’ll dry out quicker.
You need to keep the water topped up (which can be difficult if you’re not up for army crawling under the tree!)
Keep it as far from a radiator or heat source as possible so it doesn’t dry out too fast.
Heavy ornaments can also be tricky on a real tree so bear in mind if yours are a bit weighty.
They will drop needles, some varieties are better than others so do a bit of research on the type of tree before you head out to buy. (Whichever you get you’ll end up with some needle loss. I’m still finding random needles throughout the year!)

There are lots of tips online to keep your tree looking it’s best. I think one gardener recommended lemonade in the water.

We usually buy one around the 10th December and in 10 years I’ve only had one not make it until New Years! (Thanks B&Q)

Always have a real tree, I’m 34 and never had a fake tree. When you buy it, cut a couple of centimetres off the bottom, sometimes they will where you buy it. Keep it away from a radiator. The fire risk used to be with the old bulb lights, not the LED ones

Traditional in our family to have real. Adult dc have left home and also but a real one.
Always buy reputable lights and never leave them in when you aren't in... Simple.
Back in dgm's day they had clip on candles that were always lit!! No wonder they were a fire hazard!

Thanks so much.
I have very light ornaments (the kids have their own wacky tree in their room that they place teddies and all sorts of stuff on)

That's great to know they smell lovely. That's what I want. Our tree was left here by previous owners. So I don't mind if I don't use it.

You can't beat a real Christmas tree. They smell amazing. We went to a farm where you could choose your own and then they cut it down for you, last year. It was soooo fresh that it started sprouting, so we kept it up for two months and it barely dropped a needle. Even when we took it down. It was a traditional tree, not an expensive non drop one. As long as you water it every day, it should be fine. We once bought one from a garden centre and all the needles dropped off after a week.

I have a real tree. We try to cut our own down or if not get a locally grown one so it's fresh. I put it up first weekend in December and with some watering it lasts well until January 6.
Some species can be very prickly so be careful. A Nordman Fir is a good choice.

We always have a fake one as I'm allergic to real ones, but as long as you don't have any asthmatics or allergy sufferers in the house (or spending Christmas day at yours!) then go for it, if it's a pain it's only for a few weeks.

This was the type of tree we had. The last pic, was at the beginning of Feb. The tree went up on the 1st of December.

Oh wow still looks fantastic in February. Are you the Queen

The queen of Christmas!

You get a bit of shedding, but nothing awful. The key is to have a stand you can put water in, and to keep them away from the radiator if possible.

I think they're so much nicer - they look gorgeous, smell beautiful and are much more environmentally friendly than artificial. Selecting the tree is one of my favourite parts of christmas.

We've always had a real tree, but I'm allergic to tree pollen and last year it was horrible! My poor face! So we are getting a fake one this year. Tbh, I won't miss hoovering up the needles and watering the thing! But they are lovely otherwise.

I'd never had a real tree so last year I got a living one with a root ball. I absolutely loved it and kept it up ages, it's now living happily in the garden. Unfortunately though it played havoc with DSs allergies so it's back to the artificial one for us this year.

I say go for it though, I'd have loved a real one again this year!

We go every year to a farm where you can cut your own tree ( or dig it up if you prefer). It’s in a beautiful village with a nice pub so it’s a lovely annual visit. I would say the second week of December is the best weekend for it if you intend to keep it up til 12th Night. You’re likely to experience some dropping when it’s moved so it’s helpful if you have a clear route out of the house.

I have never had a real tree but they do seem lovely and having read a bit about it I believe real trees are better for the environment than artificial. We do have an artificial tree that I love (always looks perfect, pre-lit, can have it up as long as we want) so I'm going to keep using it year on year until the lights fail then will try a real one!

I've had a real tree every year for the last four years. It depends on hot your house is, to how it lasts. Mine lasts until February, but it's in the window by a door which keeps it cool and we don't have the house above occasionally slightly warm.
I pay a bit more for mine, use the needle drop spray, water around the base and I just get hardly any dropped needles.

I’m getting a real one this year as I have never had one (I’m almost 40), I’m super excited but have no idea what best to buy 🤔, I put my tree up on the 1st and usually take it down well before new year so I’m hoping it will last 4 weeks.

We usually get a real tree but with the prices of everything else going up I'm not sure we can afford the £35+ for it every year! I've seen a fake one in John Lewis for £50 which would be paying for itself within 2 years so I'm really tempted to just go for that

We used to have a real tree every year and I did love it, but have had our fake one for a few years now. So much easier but I do miss the smell and look of the real tree. I just couldn't justify the cost now as like everything else they are getting more expensive every year.

It's nice to know I'm not the only person allergic to Christmas trees! We have a decent quality artificial one which is keeping pretty well.

If you have kids, a little 1/2ft tree for their room is great, and means they can decorate that how they want. When I got one for DD, I had thought we would make decorations for it on the run up to Christmas, but she took it straight to her room and decorated it herself with bracelets and toys from her room. I particularly remember a plastic snake. It was fabulous!

When I was a kid we always had a wonky little fake one because my DM was very houseproud and didn't want any unnecessary mess.

As an adult I have always gone for the real thing. I love the smell and I live how they look. We get a Nordmann as I think they shed less. Usually we leave it in a bucket of water in the garage for 24 hours before brin9it on. You still get a bit of needle drop but not too bad. Generally we get ours mid December and it is good until Jan 6.

Also there is a brilliant scheme for disposal where we live. One weekend on January there is an organised collection. It is run by volunteers and you make a donation for them to collect the tree. The trees are shredded and the resulting chips used for whatever it is (mulch, paths?) and all the money raised (many thousands) goes to the local hospice. Win, win, win really. Saves people the hassle of disposal, keeps the trees out of landfill and does something useful with them instead and raises so much money for the hospice

We moved into bigger house last autumn and we had our first real tree last Xmas. We have a large conservatory where we easily fit a big one. This year we are getting a real one again.

Ditto to slicing a bit off the bottom, and get a non drop one - they’re more expensive though. Ours always goes in a bucket of wet gravel - topped up often! and always lasts well from at least mid Dec, sometimes earlier, until 6th Jan - I never take it down earlier.

We always had real ones growing up so I have a soft spot for them, I love the smell, nothing like it.

We have not actually had a real tree for about 5 years { we had a really good fake one and were happy to use that} but we decided to get a real one this year. Our dc loves it and it looks incredible. It just feels so cosy in our living room. For some reason, I feel like you can see the individual decorations and lights more , where as before, the decs got abit lost in the density of the tree.
I've also saved some of the foliage that we trimmed off to make a xmas wreath.

As we have put it up on the earlier side, I am hoping it makes it to Christmas day! We chopped a few inches of the bottom, will fill up water every 2 days and have it positioned away from the radiator.

We had a real tree one year , the smell really affected my lungs ( I have lung disease) and I’m not overly keen on the smell anyway so definitely not worth not being able to breathe properly for 2+ weeks .