Realistic artificial trees

[daffodilandtulip]

Looking to invest in the most realistic tree I can find this year. I love a real tree but I don't think it's justifiable.
I've been looking at the everlands fir ones and also a couple on werchristmas.
I've got to the point where I'm sick of looking and can't remember what I've seen now 🤣
Any experience or better ideas?

I need one too. Specifically one with a width of less than 40cm yet a height of about 18ft

How much are you willing to spend? I love our Balsam Hill trees more than any of the others - I'd really recommend ordering the branch sample box and seeing what you prefer. I have a Norway Spruce and a Nordman fir that are really realistic, and another one I can't remember the name of.

They're fantastic but £££, I just got a new one in the sale which makes it much cheaper!

I believe Balsam Hill do the best, most realistic trees.
They are pricey though.

They've been mentioned a few times on MN in the past.

What about a live potted tree? Ours is on its third year now, happily in its pot in a hole in a corner of the garden. Had to water it a lots last year but hardly at all this year. We just dig it up and hide the dirty pot inside a nice Christmassy one when it comes inside. Much nicer than a fake tree and the kids love it.

We got ours from White Company and it is lush and beautiful. Always get loads of compliments on it.

I bought a slim 5ft Fraser Fir tree from Balsam Hill a few years ago, just before Christmas as my real one turned out to be a dreadful shape and dropped all the needles.

It was a total bargain though - maybe £130. The equivalent cheapest 'most realistic' unlit tree would be this,
https://www.balsamhill.co.uk/p/silverado-slim-artificial-christmas-tree?sku=2811169

I got a prelit one from Christmas Tree World. It's lovely. But it's also enormous when it's packed away. I should have considered that I know. Our previous tree was a similar height but the branches were much thinner so it folded up smaller. I really like it being pre-lit as well. The lights are perfectly spread out, much better than I could ever do.

Balsam Hill trees are excellent but you do have to take the time to do the initial fluffing etc . We have 2 , prelit ones and I’ve never seen anything comparable in a shop or garden centre .

Ours was from M&S around 4 years ago. It's prelit but so natural looking that a lot of people have mistaken it for being real. It was fairly reasonably priced too.

Do they have the tinsel type beaches mixed in with the realistic ones, like the everlands do?

The balsam hill ones are gorgeous! @cruffinsmuffin thanks for the sample box tip!

Yeah I can't even keep a spider plant alive 🙈

I have this one and very happy with it
https://www.werchristmas.co.uk/collections/6ft-christmas-trees/products/pre-lit-douglas-fir-christmas-tree-with-multi-function-warm-white-micro-leds-6ft?variant=39758067433543

Oh that one is already on my list! Does it feel like you have a real tree in the house? Also with the pre lit ones, my cheap one has wires trailing everywhere - is this better since it's more expensive?

Balsam Hill. Far superior to White Company trees.

The Balsam Hill European Fir one looks absolutely perfect.

We have this one from Christmas tree world (7ft high ). We love it .
It looks amazing and is always mistaken by visitors as real.
It does take a bit of effort to put up but is worth it, I usually put up 24hours before dressing it to allow time to tweak the branches.
The only problem is that it’s heavy to store .
Other than that it’s perfect .

Oh that's a good shape! Do you remember what it's called?

Storage isn't an issue, I have eaves in the loft conversion - so an easy, accessible, big space.

@TheGreatWoofington your tree looks amazing 🤩

This is interesting, because I bought a balsam hill, a lot for the pre lit convenience, and whilst it's a pretty tree, it's too full and symmetrical (yes I've fluffed it every way possible), and that stops it looking real.

The white company ones I've never seen in the flesh, but they always look less packed full of branches and more realistic because of that in the pics.

Are the WC ones not that great in real life?

@ChristmasCrumpet I've been quite disappointed with the WC trees I've seen in real life after reading so many positive reviews on here over the years. I think the various tree styles from both WC and Balsam Hill differ quite a lot so you may not have found your perfect one yet.

Thank you for the kind comments.
I think it’s either the 7ft mountain pine or ultra pine . Christmas tree world usually have a good discount on their trees at this time of year, so might be worth a look? We have had our tree for 5 years now and it’s still as good as new.

Our White Company Symons tree is fantastic quality and looks realistic. I bought it with the 15% discount.

Oh you're right ... almost half price. I'm very tempted by yours!

I’ve added a couple of close ups of the branches. They naturally curl up but the secret is to curl the ends of the branches upwards a bit more when at the tweaking stage.