Real or Fake?

**Russ** · 11-22-2008, 02:32 PM

Sorry men, not those.

I'm talking Christmas trees. Which do you prefer? Give me the pros and cons of each.
We are due for a new one because our current fake one is 10+ years old and looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
A pre-decorated fake one? Do they last long?
Need some opinions here.
thanks

**Sassyclass** · 11-22-2008, 02:37 PM

I prefer the fake tree.
1. Like paper towels a real one is money getting thrown away every year.
2. I'm allergic to real ones.
3. I don't have to worry about the needles falling off.
4. I just think a good fake tree looks fuller than most real ones. JMO

Cat

**Missy** · 11-22-2008, 02:46 PM

This year we are using a real one...potted. It's small, about three feet, has a nice root ball and come later in the spring we can plant it.

**djbout** · 11-22-2008, 04:22 PM

Up until 2 years ago always had real, loved the smell and just dealt with the upkeep/clean-up. We moved into a small house 3 1/2 years ago and with 5 animals in our household and less space decided on a 4 foot fibre optic fake tree, I love it. It the needles change colors and I do not need to decorate it! We tried the real tree the first year here and with such a tight space upkeep/clean-up was very difficult. I do not regret switching!

**Grayce** · 11-22-2008, 04:24 PM

I like fake. It always looks full and "perfect". We use the same tree over and over so it is cheaper than buying a real one each year. It doesn't make a mess. I don't have to water it. The con for me is having to store the huge box all year.

We had a real one once and it dropped tons of needles. It was a pain watering it and somehow water managed to work it's way under the carpet and mould it. I really thought the smell was overwhelming. I felt bad killing a tree.

I don't really know which is a better environmental choice because real trees are compostable and natural. Fake trees are made with plastic that probably will last forever in a landfill.

**dcompton** · 11-22-2008, 05:53 PM

I don't put up a tree now, but when I did, I eventually went to artificial. I am a long time member of Minimize Housekeeping Chores Guild, and long ago decided I would never, ever deal with dry pine needles in a carpet again.

**Yart** · 11-22-2008, 06:30 PM

Fake ....
Just because that is all I have ever had.

**Marzipan** · 11-22-2008, 06:40 PM

We have a fake tree- it is cheaper than paying for a real tree every year.

**pip** · 11-22-2008, 10:27 PM

We have a fake one. Our first Christmas, we had a real tree. It was so dry and dropped needles all over. We bought a fake tree right after that Christmas when it was really marked down and used it a good 18 years. We ended up replacing it a few years ago. I love it. We don't have to take it apart, so it sits in a corner of the basement with a sheet wrapped around it. I think it's very pretty and so easy to use. We've saved a lot of money using them, too.

**madhen** · 11-22-2008, 10:32 PM

When I moved here, I had pretty much decided this is the place where I want to retire and live out my life. That being the case, I bought a living Christmas tree, and after Christmas, I planted it out in the dogs' run, where I can see it from pretty much every floor of the house. It is just now big enough to give the dogs a shady place to lay under in the summer.

I like real trees, but I hate killing them so I can have one in my house for a week or two. And the needles and the fire hazard didn't rank high on my list, either. And I didn't need a forest of live trees, so I didn't want to get a living tree every year. (Especially at about $100/tree.)

After that first Christmas, I bought an artificial tree on super-mega-after Christmas sale at K-Mart, and I've been very happy with it. It was a very nice one, I think a Martha Stewart tree, and it was about 70% off, so i couldn't resist. It is not pre-lit, which I might consider the next time I get a tree (hate stringing lights). Very realistic looking. My sister didn't believe it was fake when she first saw it. It is big (about 7 feet) and very full, and the branches are bendable, so you can "fluff" it up.

After Christmas, it disassembles back into its box. No worries about what to do with the waste.

I do still buy live poinsettias every Christmas.

**jade73** · 11-22-2008, 10:41 PM

My choice would be for the real tree TRADITION maybe not?

**monkeywrangler71** · 11-22-2008, 10:52 PM

I prefer a real tree, as long as it is in someone else's house

I can't handle the clean up and they always fall over. We have a fake one, and it looks mighty fake but I don't care.

I don't really know which is a better environmental choice because real trees are compostable and natural. Fake trees are made with plastic that probably will last forever in a landfill.

The real ones are usually a better environmental choice. They are typically grown on managed farms, so they are cleaning the air while they grow and being replanted after cutting. Young growth absorbs more co2 than old growth, so the constant replanting means a tree farm absorbs more than a natural pine forest. A fake tree produces waste that never disappears (plastic) as well as pollution and chemical waste during production. The other factor is the distance that your tree traveled. Some real trees are shipped long distances, but pretty much all artificial trees come from China. Your best environmental choice is a locally farmed real tree.

**brainyblonde** · 11-23-2008, 12:35 AM

Real only!

It is traditional for my entire family to trek to a tree farm every December to cut down our own trees. Some of us even wear the Santa hats. I don't have a problem with the few needles that drop. Nothing beats the smell of a fresh cut tree.

**HisDaisy** · 11-23-2008, 01:02 AM

A Real Tree, hands down. I love the smell. I love the way they look.
I growing up we always had a real tree. We even had a small tree farm behind our house.
That said we own an artifical pre-lit tree. We own one partly because we were living in the midwest where real trees were expensive and partly because we lived in an apartment building that did not allow them.
Now that we are back in the northwest, we are hoping to get a real tree this year. It depends on the price.

**Palooka** · 11-23-2008, 03:17 AM

Fake all the way. The sad thing is that the one we had for years... one of my stupid cats decided to pee on it when we were cleaning out the garage. *grrr* I have a small one and a bigger one and it just depends on the mood.

This year the small one is going up again out of reach of the little one.

I think the real tree's are beautiful but a pain.

I have a ton of decorations but I swear through the years that is the way my cats get revenge on me. They climb up the darn thing and bat the ornaments on the floor.