Just curious...how many of you have "real" Christmas trees vs artificial? This has always been a bone of contention in our house...my perspective is that why kill a live tree...then just throw it out (they can be burned I guess). An artificial tree can be used several times saving money and live trees. Just my opinion. I'd like to hear others thoughts.

Live - always - and not sure that artificial uses less energy or is any more "green" than a tree that is grown to be harvested. Lets face it, if I'm not buying it, a farmer is not going to plant and tend and harvest it; and a real tree seems to be completely biodegradable.

I will say, as I get older, the idea of bring a fully decorated artificial tree out of the attic has a certain appeal. I haven't given in yet but not sure we will persevere till 70's.

fake. we often forgot to keep the water topped off, once the cut hits the air its over. most Christmas trees are specifically grown to be cut so anyone having a live tree doesnt bother me, they arent hurting the forest.

fake .....
I have considered a live potted tree decorated for Christmas then fed, watered, nurtured during the winter indoors, and then planted in the spring .

We are real tree converts on our 4th year, and it's been awesome. I love having a real balsam in the house that reminds me of the northwoods, and it is so much fun picking one out as a family. We will never go back to fake (grew up on fakes exclusively).
Yes, the hard part is throwing out a beautiful tree in early January. They always look amazing, even after several weeks.

We always go and cut a tree. I will always have a real Christmas tree, and when I can no longer do that, I will not have a tree at all. I do not like artificial trees.

It is a personal preference, and I don't judge others about it. There is a long story about why I feel as I do and I won't go into it now, but it is an emotional response in my case, and there will never be a "fake" Christmas tree in my home.

For many years we cut a nine-foot tree and it touched the ceiling in our old farmhouse living room. Our children liked big, bulky, round trees, so they sometimes almost FILLED the living room! That was fun, but the children have been gone now for a long time and that big tree was a hassle to handle, hard to decorate, and took up too much space. We have gotten smaller now; even this year going to a small, slender tree on a table in front of the window. That is OK. But it is a real tree. Never have had much trouble with needle loss, even once we forget to water, but then we don't put it up really early, and usually take it down right after New Year's.

We have no disposal problem--the sheep eat it! They eat everything down to just the bare tree trunk in a matter of just a few days!

I have no problem with "killing" a real tree because that's what they were grown for. The last few years we have had an artificial tree. My wife's call on this one because she says the ornaments look better, evenly spaced.

Real Trees. Having grown up in a family that grows Christmas tress for both retail and wholesale, i can't have it any other way. I have heard all the arguments about mess, safety, convenience, etc. And I also know that some people are allergic.. But, except for a few exceptions, the tree growing business is a family/small business affair. I made a chunk of the money I needed to attend college by shearing trees in the summer and helping cut and bale trees in the fall. Choose and cut operations and the neighborhood Christmas tree lot are supporting your neighbors. Where do the artificial trees come from? What are they made from?

You can learn more at National Christmas Tree Association .

Sell real trees, have a fake in my house.

Live, because there are hundreds of crowded balsam in the woods in back of my house. They are of irregular shape due to crowding and none eligible for sale at a nursery. We just thin em. There are enough cones on the ground to generate more.

I have always had a real tree. Yes it can be a pain dealing with fallen needles, and such but it's worth it to me.

I have a friend with a log home in the country, they have 18 ft ceilings in their living room... Each year they have a 17ft tree. I wish I had a picture to share because beautiful doesn't do it justice after they are done decorating.

fake..for the price of a tree we can buy more stuff. my wife got a nasty reaction to a tree years ago,maybe sprayed with something.so we got a fake and stuck with it.i see the local natural garden shop has small trees that they said were thinned out from the BW but we passed on it this year.
my daughter on the other hand has a big real tree at her place.

A fine, fat, fake fir that fools folks.

Our progression of trees over 40 years:

Trees on a wood stand, from a sales lot in town
Trees we cut high up on the mountain
Trees we cut at tree farms
Trees that are not real

quote Spartan2: "We always go and cut a tree. I will always have a real Christmas tree, and when I can no longer do that, I will not have a tree at all. I do not like artificial trees.


It is a personal preference, and I don't judge others about it. There is a long story about why I feel as I do and I won't go into it now, but it is an emotional response in my case, and there will never be a "fake" Christmas tree in my home.


For many years we cut a nine-foot tree and it touched the ceiling in our old farmhouse living room. Our children liked big, bulky, round trees, so they sometimes almost FILLED the living room! That was fun, but the children have been gone now for a long time and that big tree was a hassle to handle, hard to decorate, and took up too much space. We have gotten smaller now; even this year going to a small, slender tree on a table in front of the window. That is OK. But it is a real tree. Never have had much trouble with needle loss, even once we forget to water, but then we don't put it up really early, and usually take it down right after New Year's.

We have no disposal problem--the sheep eat it! They eat everything down to just the bare tree trunk in a matter of just a few days!


"

Holy smokes, your crown molding is wowza!

I help my neighbors get trees for their places. But my place is too small. I would have a real tree because like what YC said there is plenty of places I can cut a tree that is mainly just thinning for the trees around it. I'm not real picky.

I switched to fake in about 98. Nothing philosophical about it, I didn't have a place to cut a tree and the acceptable ones at the lot started about 60 bucks. The fake ones were $165 with lights already on 'em. I used my first one 13 years, that's about $13 per year.

Cut a real at a tree farm....$20 (took a while to find a good one)
When we take it down, I tie it to the Mock Orange tree by the front porch and the bird feeder to give the winter birds some cover. When the snow is gone, I chop off the branches and saw the trunk up to burn over the summer in the patio fireplace. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Real tree. I will never have a fake one. I would decorate a dead tree branch before I went to a fake one. After New Years I put it on the deck with just the lights. It stays lit most of the winter. The bright colored lights help brighten up long winter nights. Some nights I just turn off the lights in the family room and look outside at the snow covered tree and bright lights.

Real. When the kids were little we used to go to a christmas tree farm and make a day out of cutting our own tree. We enjoyed it. But the kids are grown and when they are home we have a small window when we can pick a tree from the cut ones at a local hardware store but we still like our balsam. We keep telling ourselves that one of these years we're going to head up north around Thanksgiving weekend and harvest a tree from the Superior national forest around Grand Marais for the $5 fee they request. I think that would be fine and so much would be visible in the forest that isn't most times of the year.

Real tree for my family. We go to a tree farm and cut one down the week after Thanksgiving. The kids love helping pick the "just right" one and then help me cut it down.

Ya really can't disagree with those that use fake trees. Even if they are petroleum product based IMO there is something just WRONG about shelling out fifty bucks for a field grown tree, particularly if you don't know the tree farmer ( the ones here very severely limit sales so they keep going a long time), and then throwing it out at the curb after a week.

I think its not what is right or wrong but what makes most sense to you.

I now have a fake tree because we aren't here enough before Christmas to keep an eye on a real one (water, etc). So I have someone put up the tree for me. I decorate when I get home.

However, I do go out on the property and cut down some low branches from some of the trees in my "yard" so I have the real pine or cedar smell in the house. A few branches with a large red bow, hanging somewhere in the house is festive both for the smell and the red ribbon.

Real and it's spectacular. I always like the search for a tree. It becomes a family adventure that everyone enjoys. My parents have property that I harvest it from.

Usually cut my own tree, off my own property. The grand kids are now a part of that adventure. I'd rather have a Charlie Brown tree than a fake one, or one from a tree farm.
My wife on the other hand has bought trees from a dealer. I just want to go my whole life without ever personally buying a tree.
My dad used to go out on horseback to get a tree.

quote yellowcanoe: "Ya really can't disagree with those that use fake trees. Even if they are petroleum product based IMO there is something just WRONG about shelling out fifty bucks for a field grown tree, particularly if you don't know the tree farmer ( the ones here very severely limit sales so they keep going a long time), and then throwing it out at the curb after a week.


I think its not what is right or wrong but what makes most sense to you."

I don't think it is a matter of right or wrong at all. But I guess how much you pay for a tree depends upon where you live and how high your expectations are. We paid $10 for ours (I think they wanted $25-40 for the larger ones), will have it in the house for about 4 weeks, and then it will be sheep feed. Seems like a bargain to me, when you figure the amount of enjoyment we are getting out of it. :-)

Just the simple life for us out in the country.

Artificial for basement for grandkids. Cover it with sheets and push it into storage until returned to prominence the next December.

Grew up with a live tree...always.

Kept the live tree tradition for the first few years after being married but switched to artificial to avoid the mess of needles everywhere.

We even tried a live un-cut tree one year with plans to plant it after XMas. The tree died anyway so in the spirit of being 'green' it's pre-lit artificials from now on.

"When it comes to artificial trees, the key to achieving environmental gains lies in the amount of time they're kept and reused. Average households replace an artificial tree about every six years.  Evidence shows that, in general, artificial trees need to be reused for at least 20 years if they are to compare favorably with natural trees."

Here is the source of the quote: Real vs Artifical Christmas Tree

I've got a live Norfolk Island pine that I re-use every year. Sort of a Charlie Brown type of Christmas tree.

We have to have a live tree. Not only because the wife likes it (which is the main reason) but also because a bunch of our friends get together on July 4th and have a tree burning contest.

The tree that gets the most popular support gets to have their name on the trophy and keep it in their house for a year. They also get an ornament to hang on the tree declaring their triumph. The only stipulations are that the tree has to actually be inside the house for a 24 hour period and at least one member of the family must be present to win.

Lots of fun to be had be all...beyond the normal Christmas tree traditions. The Torching of the Tree slogan is: "Where Tradition Becomes Competition"

Real. Not ready to convert. Although I'm in process of converting from Kevlar to a stripper. Wood paddles too.

No tree the last few years since the grandchildren are out of the country (which is perfectly fine with me - the tree, not the grandchildren). Otherwise a real tree from a small family owned grower the boughs of which are later used to cover the spring flowering bulbs as they send up shoots in early spring - protection from hungry rabbits.

As for me and my house we go with....

Fake.
-For what we paid for the tree and the years we have enjoyed it the cost is minimal.
-It's cleaner
-When placing it near the fireplace like this year there's less danger from drying out and being a hazard.
-We like its looks
-We always know how much space it will take
-If a lot of large presents we can take off bottom branches
-Been married 43 years. First couple of trees were real then went artificial and not looked back. Works for us.

By the way the grandkids know how it goes together and they help to put it up. If the ornaments aren't straight or lights aren't even we like it even more.

We had a live tree for 40+ years. This year we made the switch. Got lazy, wussy or whatever, and at $50 a pop a live tree isn't all that attractive anymore. Do miss the couple of days of fresh pine smell in the house.

Live. We go to a great tree farm with many types of trees and when you cut you leave 3 branches behind so that the tree keeps growing. Looking at various trunks you can see that some of them have been cut and kept growing a few times. Sooner or later they need to replanted. They also have picnic tables, big swings hanging from huge trees, wreath making tables, and a fire with marshmallows. So it is more of an activity than just getting a tree. The rest of the year it is the family that runs it camp. Afterwards it gets composted by our waste company. I couldn't go artificial because I love the smell and just having a tree inside.

Our favorite tree farm though was near my in-laws in upstate NY. It was an elderly couple and the woods behind their house. You would get there, chat a bit, and then go hike in the woods, pick a tree, and cut it down. After tying it on the car, you would go inside, have a cup of coffee or cocoa to warm up. While you were drinking you had to have some freshly baked cake and cookies that she had just made. And just sit and chat for a while longer. At the end, he would take $5 for the tree. I think they just enjoyed the company and the $5 might have covered the raw ingredients for everything we ate.

Like many, we had a live tree when the kids were home. It was a tradition to take a sleigh ride and pick just the right tree, or one that would fit in our house.

Now that the kids are on their own, we have transitioned to an artificial tree.

1 real, 3 fake love the smell of a real tree.

Fake.
I had live trees growing up and for a good portion of my adult life. Then my wife puts up an artificial one year and after not having to water it, or vacuum up the needles and then dispose of it afterward, I was hooked, and havent looked back since. The fact that its so safe was enough, but the other stuff helps also.

Always real. I'm proud to say that I have successfully converted a couple people over to real trees the last 20 years. The trees are grown specifically for this purpose. It is good to help keep the tree farmers in business. I've had nothing but Scotch pine the last decade or so. I've planted a few hundred scotch and balsam on my land the last few years so I am hoping to harvest my own in the future.

I do buy real christmas wreaths.