Real or Fake Tree

[Kindra178]

I am a real tree person. I love the smell, the misshapen branches of it and the idea. I dislike the needles though. Quite a bit. For fake trees, I worry about off gassing and whether it will end up in a landfill one day. But the perfect lights, no needles . . . intriguing.

[Ceepa]

Artificial. Mold allergies flare up around the real cut ones.

[Binkandabee]

Fake tree. I have asthma and it flares up around strong scents like pine.

[BabyBearsMom]

Real all the way. I was brought up Jewish so the tree tradition belongs to my DH and he has always had a real tree. His family moved a lot so they didn't want oe more thing to store and schlep across country. I've become a lover of real trees though. I just love the smell and I love the natural appearance with the imperfections. DH takes care of the tree upkeep (watering, cleaning needles). Since I"m Jewish, I just don't know how to do those things :loveeyes:

[crayonblue]

Fake. Allergies here.

[BDKmom]

I prefer a real tree, but have it up several years ago. Too difficult to string the lights and I never remembered to water it, so the needles were falling out almost immediately. We now have a prelit artificial tree. Sometimes I miss the smell and natural appearance, but the ease of artificial can't be beat.

[BabbyO]

Artificial. I grew up with real trees most of the time, but it isn't really practical for our family with the mess, needing to water it, financially (dang they are expensive), etc. yes, it could end up in a landfill one day...but we could also be consuming live trees on a yearly basis...I know they are from tree farms, etc...but well, I'm ok with artificial.

[AnnieW625]

I am a real tree person. I love the smell, the misshapen branches of it and the idea. I dislike the needles though. Quite a bit. For fake trees, I worry about off gassing and whether it will end up in a landfill one day. But the perfect lights, no needles . . . intriguing.

This is us too. I grew up with real trees and have never had a reason to get a fake tree. I am not all that crunchy, but I do recycle and I too would hate it that my future fake tree could end up in a landfill. I just can't pull the trigger on a fake one though even though our closed heater vent has still managed to make our live trees die before Christmas. This year if we don't find a deal of the century on a fake tree I think we will put up some heavy duty plastic over that heater vent. Oh and to play with my Catholic guilt evenmore a local Catholic parish school (one of the smaller ones in our area) is selling trees this year and I think we should help them out.

[specialp]

Both. Our main tree is a real one and we have a 2nd artifical tree in the foyer. I disliked how our fake tree looked the exact same every year growing up but always a little worse wear and tear. I don't mind in our foyer, but love our main real tree. Some years you get the most awesome real tree ever and other years you have to make sure to put that big ornament right there to cover up that hole, but it's always different. And the smell can't be beat.

[Tondi G]

I always had a real tree growing up so we have always had real trees. I like the imperfections and the smell of the tree just means "Christmas time" to us. It is just a tradition ... we go as a family and pick out our tree ... it wouldn't be the same without it.

[maestramommy]

Well, per my tree thread I guess I do prefer the real ones. Yeah, I don't like vacuuming the needles but after having 2 real full sized trees, I keep wondering whether the artificial would the same. And there are tree farms in our area. The one we got last year came from the farm of a church member, in my town.

[crl]

For sentimental and environmental reasons, we used to always have a real tree. But I am allergic to pine and to mold, so the real tree is tough for me. Last year we bought fake and will use it for the foreseeable future.

Catherine

[Momit]

Real! DH grew up with fake but he prefers real ones, as do I. We just try to keep them well-watered and take them down before they get totally dried out and drop needles everywhere. The last couple of years we got really freshly cut ones and that seemed to make a difference, plus of course making your own fresh cut before putting it in the stand. And we bag it before taking it out to the curb for recycling.

[larig]

I am a real tree person. I love the smell, the misshapen branches of it and the idea. I dislike the needles though. Quite a bit. For fake trees, I worry about off gassing and whether it will end up in a landfill one day. But the perfect lights, no needles . . . intriguing.

You mean you dislike the needles dropping? Getting a fresh-cut tree really reduces the amount of needles that drop, AND being religious about watering it. (my parents owned an xmas tree farm when I was growing up--I'm real, obviously).

[smilequeen]

Fake just because I don't have the time/energy to deal with the cons of the real one. I do miss the smell and I find the look really nostalgic. But I love the hassle free fake one.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Real. I like the idea of a fake tree in some ways but it just wouldn't feel like Christmas without a real tree. If be bored with the same tree each year. Some years I want a fat tree, some I want a skinny one. I like the occasional bald spot too. :)

[brittone2]

Real. We grew up with real trees, and my parents had 3.5 acres heavily planted with Christmas trees, so sometimes it was from our yard. DH and I had a fake for several years, but once we had crawling kids and toddlers who put their hands in their mouths, I wasn't too thrilled with the lead dust issue.

At this point a fake would be nice sometimes (not too worried about lead dust with the kids at this point vs. when they were younger), but we really like the whole experience of schlepping around to pick a live tree. We have a great picturesque tree farm with rolling hills, etc. that we adore going to, and the icing on the cake is that they charge $3/foot for live trees. So our 10-12 foot trees are inexpensive, and last really nicely since they are cut fresh.

[123LuckyMom]

Real, real, real!!! We go to a tree farm where we hike in the snow to find the perfect tree. Then we saw it down ourselves and drag it back to the car. Well, that's how we used to do it before kids. Now we do the snowy hike, but we then tag the tree, hike back to the car, and warm up while the farmers take the tractor out, saw down the tree, and bring it back for us ;). We do a fresh cut before we put it in the stand and keep the water tank full. We still get tons of needles as we take the tree out when Christmas is over, but they vacuum up without too much trouble.

[jent]

Real for us (though if we had allergies/asthma I'd think differently).

Agree with PP that a fresh cut tree and plenty of water cuts down on the needles. Also, we wait to get our tree until ~ 2weeks before Xmas.

Re the environmental cost: DH used to worry a lot about this. BUT- we are buying a product that keeps tree farmers in business (my cousins own an Xmas tree farm). Our town (like many) collects them and mulches them. Probably a better job at recycling than many products we buy!

[hellokitty]

Fake, it's what I grew up and then I ended up marrying someone from a family that never developed any type of traditions. So, just getting him to help me put up a fake tree is a feat. If I insisted on a real tree, we'd probably just not have a tree, since he is so apathetic about putting up any sort of tree at all. I worry about the live tree, more than the fake trees, trying to keep it alive, feeling bad about killing a tree each yr and about it being a fire hazard, plus getting sap all over the place.

[SASM]

Artificial...allergies. Miss the tradition of searching for that perfect tree...and Ohhh the scent!! :(

[marinkitty]

Real. I just love the smell of the real tree.

[elizamom]

Fake for the first time ever this year. We all have allergies. We've never been tested, but I am sure the pollen and mold do not help. It will be a little sad I think just bc I have always had a real one. But I don't like the idea of cutting down a tree just to put in my house for a few weeks and have it die. :( I'll feel better about the fake/plastic if we can keep it forever.
If I miss the smell I am already prepared to buy a real wreath or something small and clean it really good.

[carolinacool]

Real. Up until I was 12, we had an awful fake tree and I always assumed that "rich" people had real trees. LOL

I like the traditional of picking it out, and i like how it always looks a little different each year. For a few years, we got them from Home Depot and we had a lot of needles. Now we get them from one of the local stands, and we have fewer.

[KLD313]

Real! I refuse to even consider a fake tree because it doesn't feel like Christmas to me with a fake tree. I love picking one out and the smell and everything about it. We used one of those tree bags last year and it helped with the needles. I'm kind of dreading a tree at all this year with DS so mobile. He's like a bull in a china shop.

[BunnyBee]

Fake. DH is allergic to pine. And one of our dogs, oddly. The Thymes Frasier Fir candles smell amazing though and don't bother DH. And the dog hasn't complained either.

[arivecchi]

Real. We'd rather be drowning in pine needles than get a fake tree. lol. We go to a tree farm and cut our own tree.

[lovin2shop]

I love a real tree, and always had them pre-kids, but I'm too paranoid about a fire now. We always put our tree close to the stairs and our kids rooms are up with the master down.

[TxCat]

Real. The needles bug me too, but we are just religious about watering, sometimes even twice a day.

[queenmama]

I strongly prefer real trees for the same reasons as OP.

We've never had a live tree, though. When we were poor newlyweds we used a borrowed artificial tree, then I was able to buy my dream tree: 7' 1950s aluminium pom pom tree with color wheel. Love, love, love.

I would love to have a real tree. I'm not sure about the dryness and needles everywhere, particularly with a toddler who wants to put every little thing in her mouth. Maybe in a few years.

Lara