Love the idea of a real tree, hate the idea of killing/wasting trees

[TheBeesKnee]

This is probably silly but every year I want a real Christmas tree. I love the shape and the smell.

Then in the run up to Christmas DP and I mooch around looking at trees and back out because of how sad and wasteful it is to cut an entire tree down just to decorate it for a month.

I hate our old plastic tree as well, it is very old and crooked and looks a bit worse for wear, with various twigs that have fallen off over the years.

Does anyone else feel the same and if so how do you get over this dilemma?

The other thing is that I have absolutely no problem with buying fresh flowers for the house every fortnight in the spring/summer, but a tree just feels different somehow?!

Christmas trees are farmed for this purpose, and are non native to the UK so have no use in nature, in the UK.

I feel the same! I’ve managed to keep living trees going for max. 3 years in the past, but I guilty about those too now 😅 Haven’t come
up with an alternative yet, at this rate we won’t have anything!

I know what you mean. These trees are grown for it though. Then you can send them to recycling,

Or buy a good quality fake now and keep it forever.

im grappling with same issues.

I agree and have had a plastic (landfill) tree because if this for years.

You can buy trees with roots to plant afterwards and I’m sure some companies even take them back to replant afterwards.

Flowers don’t kill the plant, but cutting down the whole tree does.

Rent a tree? Im in Ireland and theres a business doing this. You rent it in a pot. Delivered to your home. They pick it up again in January. You can even rent the same tree every year, just a bit bigger than the previous year. Must be someine in UK (if thats where you are) doing it.

We got a smallish real tree in a pot one year, used that, then planted it in our back garden. Let it grow for a few years then chopped it down and used it again! Was kind of fun and not more expensive than a single-use real tree.

It's a tree - they grow pretty quickly (we've been going to the same Christmas tree farm for the past 3 years, so I've seen where new seedling trees have shot up)

It's just a big plant, nothing wasted, they'll plant another one, another one will grow.

I don't understand this argument. A real tree has helped the planet just by existing. A real tree is bio degradable. Plastic trees are reusable but you'd have to do so forever as they take AGES to degrade. You do more harm by using plastic trees even if you reuse them for 20+ years.
You might wish to get a tree in a pot with roots and all and keep it in your garden for next year. You might wish to decorate a real tree outside. Nothing beats the smell of a real tree.

I felt terrible about having another plastic tree. I'd had mine since 2013, it was on its last legs and I didn't want to get another plastic one.

I've bought an oak tree, which was a big investment, but it will last forever. There's a metal rod going up the middle of it, and then slats alternated with oak washers to build up a Christmas tree. You can make it a double helix, or stick the slats out haphazardly which is what we've done.

nwco.co.uk/products/alternative-oak-christmas-tree

It looks very pretty.

Look for a local Christmas tree farm, they are grown for this very purpose and as others have said help the environment simply by being trees, also, by buying from a local farm you know you aren't adding unnecessary travel miles

Here’s a question for logburner owners - could you keep it in the garage for a year or so and then burn it?

@sorrynotathome they are exceptionally sappy so not good for an indoor log burner, though we use old Christmas trees in the one outside outside

As others have said, they're good for the environment as they're trees that never would have been grown save for Christmas being a cultural event. We collect ours locally, chip it afterwards and use it in the garden. More trees are then planted. It's a natural and environmentally friendly endeavour.

Compare the above with a plastic tree, shipped from China and one day ending up in landfill.

If you get a no drop one it will last awhile, I put mine outside and hang birdfeeders and solar lights on it, it normally looks nice until April.
that said, it’s served a purpose soaking up carbon and was farmed for the purpose, it’s not really sad.

where I live real trees are recycled by the council to help maintain the sand dunes. The local zoo also used to recycle them by shredding them for the floor of the animal pens. Our local hospice collects and recycles them for a £10 donation so very few going to waste round here. I love the smell of a real tree .

Let the trees fulfill their Christmas destiny!

Plastic trees are also bad for the planet, so there's that aspect.

Get a dinky one in a pot and it'll grow over a few years as you pot it up. although it might look crap one year when you forget to water it in a dry spell and it almost dies.

I agree christmas trees are a crop- grown for that purpose, they are not cutting down native forest. Once the trees are cut and sold more will be planted.
I love a real tree. I also know my supplier grows locally, not shipped from china.
It isn't possible to recycle an artificial tree, my council picks up real trees to make compost.

earthfriendlytips.com/real-vs-artificial-whats-the-most-eco-friendly-christmas-tree/

Ah ok good to know - thank you!

I never have any kind of tree, I don't want to watch a beautiful majestic tree dying in my home.

Stop thinking of christmas trees as a forest tree. They are a crop as they grow so rapidly. I used to grow christmas trees.

If trees were not cut down most of them would die anyway. The trees are all planted close together in rows. They grow about a foot a year so as they get bigger, they need to thin them out and the best ones are left to grow bigger. If they didn't thin them out, none of them would grow very well.

This applies to all types of trees - all forests need to be thinned at intervals to allow room for the best trees to grow to maturity.

We bought a potted one last year for this reason. Reported it outside in a bigger pot, it’s pretty much looked after itself for the year and we’ll bring it again soon for this Christmas. Although having read these replies I’m now thinking we should have just bought a cut one!

I think next year we will keep it outside and decorate it then buy a cut one for inside.

As pp have said, you can rent living trees. We use a company that grow them, deliver
them, collect them and replant them

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