We have a fake tree for the 1st time in 10yrs

[Screenager]

Because the weather has been so awful this weekend that any attempt to get a real one has been aborted!… I don’t want to pick a tree in the rain, nor do I want a wet tree in the house.

I’ve dug the fake one out that we’ve had for 20yr but not used for the past 10. It looks great!

We have an artificial because we never had a car pr
means of getting one to the house. Went to a garden centre today and the cheapest one was £55! Couldn’t believe it, definitely sticking with artificial although I do love the real tree smell.

We've got an artificial one too - we spent a lot of money on it and it still looks great years down the line. Did have a real tree a couple of times but the expense, hassle and cleaning up afterwards wasn't worth it imo.

We have always had artificial trees , real trees affect my breathing and I have emphysema . Currently have 4 up of various sizes and designs around the house l

I have not got my tree up yet. I always have a real tree and a real turkey. I don't want fake or frozen. I'll probably go to Xmas tree farm next Sunday.

We have a fake tree and it must have been going for 10-15years. I like that it is slimline, as we only have a small lounge. The rooted tree i bought one year is still in a pot in the garden, but the year we had that, we got bonus slugs indoors, so not doing that again!

Me too, I’ve never had one ever and I’m in my fifties. Real,trees are so expensive now. We used to get ours from IKEA and they were great and good value but they have stopped doing them.

Yes they are so expensive!… £10 per ft at my nearest.

I’m really pleased we haven’t bothered with the faff this yr too.

We always used to have real trees but they got so expensive that we swapped to a fake a few years ago. Fake ones have the added advantage of being a regular shape.
They still drop needles, though!

After years of real trees, we bought a decent fake a couple of years ago-it’s prelit so no messing around with lights, easy to put up and no pine needles everywhere.

I do miss having a real tree but not the cost & hassle!

I like the whole tradition of going out to get the tree - I don’t think a fake one can ever replicate a real one, sorry! I think they give 1990’s Debenhams vibes. Since I learned the fitted sheet removal method they are far less of a faff to remove too. They are bloody expensive now though, so I may have to succumb eventually.

I love going to get a tree. I don’t see it as a faff at all. I’d prefer no tree over a fake one.

We always had artificial but had real ones the last 2 years. What a bloody palaver. Both were disappointing: one was slightly wonky, the other too sparse. And watching something slowly wilt and die was depressing, especially as the decorations at the base began to drag on the floor...

Also worked out that if we buy real for the next 40+ years, it'll cost £4-5k in a lifetime 😱

Invested in a beautiful artificial one and won't go back!

The only person on our street with a real tree is the house across the road and it's by far the worst looking tree on the street. I think most people these days have artificial trees, investing in a decent one definitely feels like a more eco and cost effective option.

We had a real one last year and it was such a nuisance. It was €110. It was really badly cut so was completely crooked in the stand. DH had to do a lot of ‘surgery’ on it to make it presentable. It was also wet as we had terrible weather here in Ireland this time last year. In the Rathwood January sale I bought 2 lovely artificial ones and they are lovely. Really full and a nice shape. I think we’ll have them for a long time.

We've had an artificial one for 20+ years. Never had a real one. Hate the idea of dragging a dead tree back to the house and watching it slowly deteriorate.

Also, can put it up as late as you like and take it down when you like without any concerns about value for money. Best bit is not having a dead tree to get rid of in January.

Still loads of needles all over the place though.

I wish I had a house or bungalow so that I could put up multiple trees! We've just got the one (7ft tall, mind!) tree in our flat. It is my dream to be able to put up loads - although I'm sure my husband would disagree as he's the chief tree-putter-upper!!

We always have a real tree but after paying £80 last year for a tree that drooped and turned yellow after a week we said never again! Last year we had to take our tree down just before Xmas and fish out an old artificial tree from the attic, once up, it looked great and we have put that up again this year.
We have put fir branches from the garden around the hearth so it still smells christmassy.
I think with the cost of living being the way it is at present, less people can afford real trees.

I'd put up with all of the weather to live in beautiful Ireland. 💕.

Had the same artificial tree since 2003. It was only an Argos cheapy as that was all I could afford back then, but well-made. Definitely not the full 6ft it was advertised as (was it the original dating profile lie?!) but going strong, and very lovely once decorated.

Every year I say I'll get a better one in the post-Christmas sale, but am never organised enough. Even if and when I do, this one will still be going up too. I love that it's shared so many Christmases with me, and seen me through various boyfriends till the husband.

We bought a 7ft artificial tree, i loved it even though it was one of those where you put all the branches in separately such a pain and had to get a son to put the topper on. The usefulness of having sons who are 6ft.
When our dd got her flat we gave her it and it must be about 20years old now.
We now live in a park home and only have a small porch with room for a tree so now have a 5ft artificial one. It looks lovely and I can see it all the time from where I sit. Putting it up next Saturday, looking forward to it.

I love a real Christmas tree, grew up always having real Christmas trees and up until I was 39 yo I always got a real one each year. We never had any issues with real ones until the last three years of getting them when the quality of the trees seemed to decline. We had one that started wilting within a week of getting it so by Christmas Day it looked a sorry mess, then the next year we got one from somewhere else but it was absolutely infested with insects which wasn’t great as we had a baby and a toddler and the whole living room was covered in wildlife, then the third year we got a tree from somewhere else and the tree went crispy and droopy really quickly and every time our toddler went near it he got covered in pine needles, they were all over the floor, in his mouth, stuck in his hair. It was a full time job constantly de-needling him…so despite loving a real tree I finally gave into my dh’s demand for a fake tree. We found a lovely one that looks as real as a fake tree can look and it’s so easy and convenient, and always looks good. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to a real tree now, although I do miss the smell, and the excitement of finding the perfect real tree.

Ooh, what is the mystical fitted sheet method??

We have a real tree every year. We get it from a nursery and it costs less than £30 for a 6-7 footer (not sure why people are paying so much, even if you don't have a well priced nursery locally, they're available for sub £30 at places like Tesco, Aldi, B&Q, The Range etc.)

I have considered a fake tree, but the decent ones are £300 or so, so I think it's more cost efficient to get a real one unless I can guarantee that the fake one will last at least a decade.

B&Q £20 to £30 for a real tree. Would never pay more than that ever again.

We always have real trees. We have 2 and bought them this weekend. It cost over £100 and they’re not especially big.

I think fake trees are much improved nowadays. We were in a pub on Sat that had one that looked completely real
until you got close up.