Can we do another Christmas tree poll?

[ourbabygirl]

Obviously, if you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to refrain!

Ever since DH and I have been together, we've put up 'faux' Christmas trees. Well, I'm getting tired of lugging them up out of the basement and spending a day putting them together (we have a smaller 6-7' one, and about a 12' one that's really a project) and winding tons of strands of lights through them. The smaller one doesn't look great anymore, so we put it on the front step, and the taller one just takes up too much room, and neither of them smells real, of course. ;)
Thinking of getting a real one, finally, now that the kids are old enough to appreciate it more and maybe enjoy the process of going to pick one out. But I hate being wasteful and killing another tree just for our Christmas (though I guess it's already dead, but still...)

So what kind of tree(s) are you putting up this year? And where do you get it? Local nursery, tree farm (cut down your own), Boy Scouts/ similar fundraising tree lot, or a place like Home Depot?

Thanks for sharing!

[SnuggleBuggles]

We buy from a local tree farm, we don't cut our own. The selection isn't huge- and I prefer that!

[MamaMolly]

DH is allergic so we have fake. Boo-hoo. I love a real tree!

[rin]

Eh, I don't worry too much about killing a tree. Christmas tree farms are a great carbon sink, right? :wink2: Plus in a lot of areas, our town included, Christmas trees are hauled away by the city for their composting program, where they turn them into mulch and whatnot for the city parks.

[newg]

We do a real full-size tree and a fake mini (2ft) tree in the dinning room. I grew up cutting my own tree and DH grew up with a fake tree. I think he humored me the first few years we were married with getting a real tree, but now he enjoys going with the girls and cutting one down at a local tree farm.

eta: our town has a haul-away day too, so the tree is recycled....my parents live out in the country, so they put the tree out in their backyard by their bird feeders so the birds have some protection in the winter (then they chip it themselves).

[g-mama]

We go out and buy a real tree every year for our family room, and I have a smaller fake tabletop tree that I put on in our breakfast room.

If you're tired of lugging out the fake tree from the basement, I'll warn you, putting up a real tree is no easy task either. Lugging it inside from the roof the car and through the house (needles EVERYwhere) is a pain. We often have to get out the saw and cut away at the trunk to get it into the base correctly, and getting it to stand straight can be difficult.

[kaharris83]

This is the year we were selling our fake tree and switching to a real tree. But since we'll have a newborn I don't want to deal with a full size tree so we're buying a small real tree and planting it in our yard when we're done with Christmas. It will be neat to see the boys' first Christmas together tree grow with them.

[lilycat88]

I had ALWAYS had a real tree until about 3 years ago when DD had a horrible allergic reaction to the mold on the tree. We put it up and it was down less than 24 hours later. Until then, I had no idea that Christmas trees were a major mold carriers (according to her allergist).

[specialp]

Real one in the living room and love it. We get it from a fundraising lot. We also have a full size fake one in the front of the house.

[elliput]

Artificial tree. We've had it for 19 years now and, amazingly, it still looks pretty darn good. I've been looking for a pre-lit replacement for several years, but have yet to find one reasonably priced that looks as "real" as this old one.

I think no matter which way you go with regards to your tree, live or artificial, the amount of effort to get it in place is about the same.

[KLD313]

We get a real tree. The year before last we searched every place in the area to cut your own tree and they just werent nice. I don't think this area of CT grows nice trees. So now we go to the nursery down the street.

[belovedgandp]

I put up multiple "fake" trees and love them. I totally decorate for Christmas and if I'm going to that kind of effort, we are going to do lots of entertaining and it is staying up a long time. So our house is decorated a solid 6 weeks which would be long for any real tree.

I absolutely hate that people take down on December 26th. The season is just gearing up for me.

[roseyloxs]

I prefer fake. However we left our 110V pre-lit tree in storage back in the US while we are overseas. DH has these 3 years to enjoy a real tree. Its been fun having a real tree but I don't find that it looks any better then our fake one and a candle can give me the smell of a Christmas tree if I want that.