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Original poster

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

60 replies

Screenager · 07/12/2025 18:22

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!

OP posts:
Bigideas · 08/12/2025 09:13

I swore I'd never have a fake tree after growing up with mum always getting a real tree.

We kept going with the real tree with our DC when we could do the lovely hunt on a chilly day for which tree you wanted (National Lampoon style) and then dig it up but then we moved house and could only find ridiculously expensive pre cut trees that were a crap shape (I'm fussy about what shape they are!).

We then bought a nice artificial, like Balsam Hill with individual limbs so it's different every year we put it together anyway 😅

I did buy two real trees with roots last year but they got planted outside and never came in!

Will probably never have a real tree again unless we live somewhere we can dig up the perfect tree again 😅

LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand · 08/12/2025 09:13

For years we had a real tree. It was the cause of many arguments between exh and me because invariably I wasn't holding it right while he attempted to put it up. However it was always bought by my dad as a gift for us, so we cherished it because of that. After dad died, and exh was long gone, I kept buying one until one year when I was really skint and told the (adult) kids that I wasn't going to bother with a tree. Very airy and nonchalant. However they didn't believe me and dd, Dsil and ds clubbed together and bought me an artificial one with lights. I was really moved and that tree has gone up at Christmas for the last 14 years. It may not be the grandest or bushiest, but it reminds me of family and love.

saraclara · 08/12/2025 09:20

Last year a friend couldn't get a tree in time, so I loaned him my old artificial tree that has been in the loft for years. When I saw it up on his flat, I wondered why I'd recently been buying real ones. Despite being 25 years old, it looked great!

So this year I've spared myself the time and effort (and the indecisiveness that comes over me when I'm faced with hundreds of different trees!) and the old faithful artificial one is back.

lohpetite · 08/12/2025 09:24

C0rner · 08/12/2025 09:02

Ooh, what is the mystical fitted sheet method??

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ooo I hope I haven’t overhyped it, its just to stand it in a open fitted sheet (use tins in the corners), un-decorate, lay it down, gather the sheet over the tree and carry it out (like a body bag) - no needle dropping through the house or in the car - we take ours to our garden centre for recycling and a free coffee :)

Jollyjoy · 08/12/2025 09:25

I just love getting a real tree, it’s my Xmas treat to myself. Yes it costs £60 so there’s that! But it really brings me joy. Plus it gets delivered by a man dressed as an elf so no faff there! The one I have this yr isn’t looking as good quality as last yr tho.. I think any Xmas tree looks lovely and it doesn’t matter, I hope you enjoy your tree op!

C0rner · 08/12/2025 09:33

lohpetite · 08/12/2025 09:24

ooo I hope I haven’t overhyped it, its just to stand it in a open fitted sheet (use tins in the corners), un-decorate, lay it down, gather the sheet over the tree and carry it out (like a body bag) - no needle dropping through the house or in the car - we take ours to our garden centre for recycling and a free coffee :)

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Thank you!! I will give anything a go to avoid the annual trail of needles through the house!

Natsku · 08/12/2025 09:35

We always get real trees, only cost 20-30 euros where I am. Don't get until a few days before Christmas though so they are lovely and fresh still for Christmas.
Though last year we didn't get until the 23rd, got it discounted and then the guy gave us two extra trees for free Grin

HostaCentral · 08/12/2025 09:59

Our fake tree is 25 years old this year! Every year it losses a few pieces, but honestly it was really expensive when we bought it, £150.... Back then, but it has lasted really well. It's a seven foot slim from JL.

We used to have real, but DH was allergic and the needles were a pita. Also had a mouse drop out of one when we unwrapped it, although that was cute.

moderate · 08/12/2025 10:02

Screenager · 07/12/2025 18:22

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 always get a real tree because we love the smell but I was advised this year that pine essence oil in an electric burner is virtually indistinguishable!

tinyspiny · 08/12/2025 10:19

DriveMeCrazy1974 · 08/12/2025 08:00

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!!

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Ours are a 7’ in the lounge , 5’ in the dining room ( for Swarovski Christmas stars only ) , 5’ on the bend in the stairs and a 4’ on a table in the kitchen .

TaupeRaven · 08/12/2025 10:27

We have a real tree, although I feel like we've overpaid at £80 for a 7 footer! I like the asymmetry of a real tree, and nothing beats the smell! One year I fell down a rabbit hole of research into real vs artificial in terms of environmental impact; the conclusion at the time appeared to be that there's little difference unless you use the same artificial tree for c. 30 years

Snugglemonkey · 08/12/2025 10:45

dontmalbeconme · 08/12/2025 09:06

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.

I have 2 fake trees. My wee one was a cheap one from asda when I was a student. Looks good still, 25 years later. Our big one is only 12 years old. It was expensive, but is 7ft really beautiful and prelit, which is marvellous. We spent less on it than you will over 12 years and it is from Balsam Hill. I expect it will last many more years.

WolfFoxHare · 08/12/2025 11:28

We got a really good artificial one about 10 years ago for around £120, and it still looks amazing. I love the idea of a real one but can't be having with the upkeep. Also I like to be able to bend the branches if necessary to fit around my decs...

StruggleFlourish · 08/12/2025 13:43

To my knowledge, we only went out to cut a real tree down once. I very much disliked the experience of walking out into a forest of small little beautiful trees, picking out the one you thought was the prettiest, and then cutting it down. It felt so cruel.

Before that, my parents would always go out to the shops and buy a cut tree and bring it home, but after that experience of going out to pick our own tree and cut it down, I couldn't stomach a real tree anymore. It felt like going out to a pasture full of calves, picking out the most beautiful one and then having it killed so that you could go home and make steaks. Going to the grocery store where it's already been killed and prepped for you, doesn't make that much of a difference. I went "tree vegan" after that.

I used an artificial tree which, some people will argue Oh yeah but all that plastic, those are bad too. Well not really. The artificial tree that I was using was second hand already and probably produced before I was born. Then people say, oh yeah but they don't look that realistic...
To which I say no, it's not a real tree. And besides, it's the decorations that make it special. It's the lights, it's the garland, it's your favorite ornaments, it's all the little touches that you put on that make a tree a tree. The tree is really more of a symbol anyway, you don't have to kill a real one in order for it to feel like Christmas.

Just my thought anyway.

spiderlight · 08/12/2025 13:48

We've had a fake tree for the past two years because the real one we had in 2023 cost us (well, PetPlan) seven grand in vets' bills.

BusyViewer · 08/12/2025 13:49

I love our fake tree, it's 7 feet tall and very cute and bushy (and it drops needles much like a real tree). I'm Australian and real trees aren't really a thing here although you can get them. I always say we will next year but we never do.

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 08/12/2025 14:05

We have a potted one. It’s super cheap and lives outside for most of the year (in a pot). We do try to limit the time it’s kept indoors. But it’s still going strong!

DriveMeCrazy1974 · 08/12/2025 14:40

tinyspiny · 08/12/2025 10:19

Ours are a 7’ in the lounge , 5’ in the dining room ( for Swarovski Christmas stars only ) , 5’ on the bend in the stairs and a 4’ on a table in the kitchen .

Show quote history

Oh, I love the sound of those - especially the one with the Swarovski stars - how lovely :)

bumblingbovine49 · 08/12/2025 14:47

Well we got a 6.5ft real tree for £40, not sure why people are paying £100. A similar fake one was about £80 in JL the other day. In Argos there was a 4ft scrawny tree for £40 yesterday,

saraclara · 08/12/2025 15:10

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

I've bought 6' Nordman Fir trees from nurseries etc for the last few years. £60-65 was the going rate.
I can only assume that you live in a cheaper area of the country.

I don't buy supermarket ones because they're all netted up so you can't see what they're like until it's too late.

Springersrock · 08/12/2025 15:17

DD and I are allergic to real trees so have a fake one.

We bought our current one half price in the sales after Christmas from B&Q 18 years ago.

It still looks pretty good, although has a slight lean on it from a cat climbing up it a few years ago.

It is just the perfect height (the star is 1cm off the ceiling) and not too wide for our living room.

Frenchfrychic · 08/12/2025 15:21

We did a few years of real trees, it’s such a faff. Not just the getting it in, watering it, dealing with any stray needles, but getting rid of the bloody thing, where it does shed its needles on the way out the door,

we bought a balsam hill prelit one a few years back and never looked back.

ErrolTheDragon · 08/12/2025 15:59

We’ve got an artificial tree that we’ve had for over 20 years now, it still looks good. We got it when DD was 3, it’s part of our traditional xmas. Most of the decorations are the same age (shatterproof!) though we got some lights this year.

apart from the expense, I really hate to see all those poor dead trees after Xmas. Such a massive waste of effort growing them and then getting rid of them.

of course getting artificial trees which you don’t then keep for decades is a huge waste too but good ones last - I can’t see us ever needing to replace this one!

ErrolTheDragon · 08/12/2025 16:01

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 08/12/2025 14:05

We have a potted one. It’s super cheap and lives outside for most of the year (in a pot). We do try to limit the time it’s kept indoors. But it’s still going strong!

Edited

If I was going to have a real tree that’s what I’d do - a living one.
I guess if it gets too big for the pot you can plant it - if I had a suitable conifer in the front garden I’d decorate that.

dontmalbeconme · 08/12/2025 16:07

saraclara · 08/12/2025 15:10

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

I've bought 6' Nordman Fir trees from nurseries etc for the last few years. £60-65 was the going rate.
I can only assume that you live in a cheaper area of the country.

I don't buy supermarket ones because they're all netted up so you can't see what they're like until it's too late.

I live in Surrey, possibly the most expensive part of the country! Nurseries and tree farms are around £30 for a 6-7ft spruce. Garden centre chains are much more expensive. I don't buy Nordmans, though as I don't like the shape (too squat, not bushy), and they don't have the same smell as the spruces.