<p>I think I missed the point where having a fake tree is bad…</p>
<p>For many years we trekked up the mountain every December, picked out a tree, cut it ourselves, etc. etc.Lots of fun, but we’re done, no regrets. </p>
<p>We loovvvve our artificial tree. 8 feet tall, gorgeous. We also, like patsmom, use fresh branches as accents around the house, and together with candles it more than makes up for the loss of the fresh tree. Most guests cannot even tell that its a fake. We load it with lights and ornaments and it is quite something.</p>
<p>Our tree has a little assembly required, involving a base, 2 poles, and individually placed branches; takes very little time, and kind of adds a little fun to the process. To be silly, the first year I put out the base and pole on Day 1, the bottom branches on Day 2, next round day 3, and so on, and told the kids we were growing our own fake tree.</p>
<p>What is a bigger event at our home is setting up the manger scene, growing rye grass, and trimming it everyday, arranging the statues around and within, and singing carols.</p>
<p>Even if a fresh tree lasts through the season, there is nothing worse than taking down the tree. At least with the artificial it is quick and easy.</p>
<p>We originally changed because of allergy concerns. We have had the same artificial for about 15 years and it still looks great. I think we have had two real trees over that time period. Every few years we seem to feel the need for a fresh tree and then regret it when the needles fall off.</p>
<p>Bought one with lights at Target last year. We are very happy with it. Son’s senior year of HS-bought the usual large tree from farm, too busy to decorate. Son’s Freshman year college-bought big tree-didn’t feel like decorating till Christmas day so we didn’t. Soph year-no tree since we didn’t decorate it prev yrs. Jr yr-Target tree with lights-no regrets.</p>
<p>Coureur - I used to agree with you, but I’ve gone chocoholic’s route, from treking and cutting to artificial. One word of warning for people who get big trees - they’re heavy. I think we have a 12 footer (comes in three sections) and it weighs a ton!.</p>
<p>We have a 20 ft. artificial that we put in our foyer. I’m not sure the brand because we had a designer make the purchase for us last year but I recall it was about $3000 and has about 7000 lights. Assembling this tree and decorating it was truly a difficult task, but the company we used did a great job. It was a gorgeous tree however, and always a “wow” moment for our family and friends when the walk in. We also have a few smaller 12 ft. trees for the grand and family rooms and I just recently bought a smaller 7 ft. for my home office. I think that is the end of our tree buying for a while.</p>
<p>I’m truly excited for Christmas this year. :)</p>
<p>Being sentimental as well as traditional, every year I looked forward to cutting down a tree. The reality was, it was generally freezing, raining or sleeting, the kids wouldn’t get out of the car, too busy fighting and complaining, wife mocking me for having to see every blessed tree in the place looking for the perfect one only to find a bare spot right when the kid was about to cut it down, angry at myself for waiting so long that by now all the good ones were tagged. Then cursing and fighting getting the thing in the house, it tipping in spite of my best efforts, the cat climbing up the trunk, and stepping on needles till August.</p>
<p>Going fake was one of the best things we ever did. I bought it on sale Dec 26 a few years ago.</p>
<p>I would really like to try a good fake! I have two teenage kids who insist that it would’t be “right” to have a fake tree, although they are ususally either absent or too rushed to enjoy the real tree process. I was thinking of getting a small live tree (with root ball) and to put it somewhere in the house to get a little of that pine fragrance…then maybe they will go along with the artificial version.</p>
<p>The other apprehension I have is that the last artificial tree I had (like more than 20 years ago?!) was really awful! I guess they are much better looking these days?</p>
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<p>Does no one value authenticity anymore? Is “the real thing” now a negative term?</p>
<p>Fake “trees” aren’t bad so much as they are, well, fake. Having a fake Christmas tree is exactly the same as replacing your front lawn with astro-turf and replacing your rose bushes and geraniums with plastic flowers. I’m sure they would all look nice and uniform and permanently green, drop no leaves, require no watering or cutting, and generally be a lot less trouble. But in the end, if you have astro-turf, you don’t really have a lawn. If you have have plastic flowers stuck in your yard you don’t really have a flower bed. And if you have a fake tree, you don’t really have a Christmas tree. All three are merely imitations.</p>
<p>We go to the same place every year, Saturday or Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, to pick out our REAL fraser fir. We get it home and in water immediately, and it always lasts until New Years! LOVE IT!! We are completely in love with the smell and the beauty of it–wish I could have it up all year!</p>
<p>We always had living trees - firs, spruces, pines. We’d go to a nursery and buy a potted tree which we’d later use in the landscaping. You really have to take extra care with these, since they have to be watered with ice cubes, can not be inside for more than 2 weeks, some species are more finicky than others, etc. Of all the trees we had, only one died, because the growers chopped the roots too much. Now, since our landscape is oversaturated with conifers, we are thinking of buying a fake one. I saw a gorgeous tree at Costco, but it costs as much as 5-10 real ones! Not sure if I’m not going to be tempted to get another Korean fir again. :)</p>
<p>I love a real tree, too, but I hate the way the branches begin to droop and the smell becomes less than wonderful by New Years. We have had Frasier, Noble and Concolor (a white fir, I think). And I hated having to undecorate and rebuy and redecorate last year. I have seldom have a tree look great by January 1. Is there some secret? Do you cut your own?</p>
<p>I had a friend who kept her apt so cold the tree was still green in the spring. Cutting your own does help–the ones on a lot are usually old already. Some years we decorate a large houseplant–one year, we decorated the coatrack! It looked great, but hanging up coats was a problem.</p>
<p>We’ve gone from driving 2 hours to the mountains to cut our own to buying a much smaller (and less expensive) tree from our grocery store. The kids(boys) stopped helping with the decorations years ago. H and I still enjoy it but I can see the the time coming when the tree will prob. shrink again. </p>
<p>We don’t have to worry about it lasting til New Years. We always take it down right after Christmas. S2’s birthday is between Christmas and New Year’s. We vowed when he was born that his birthday would always feel like a birthday to him and not like a Christmas leftover. </p>
<p>We had an artificial tree before kids but left it behind when we made our last move (21 years ago).</p>
<p>Just another thought – In my area, Christmas tree farms provide a nice environmental benefit too. Some of them even have conservation easements on their land. They are pretty low intensity farming as far as pesticides etc. go, and offer pretty good bird habitat for certain birds. They’re better than subdivisions!</p>
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<p>On another note, I always wish I was living in Italy at Christmas time, where a cr</p>
<p>A lot of the land around where I live used to be Christmas tree farms. As the rural areas have become valuable real estate, the tree farms are moving out, but you can still pick up a fresh-cut fir that will last through New Year’s. Another advantage we have in the Great Northwet is that it never gets as dry here in the winter as it does in most places.</p>
<p>Let me tell you about trying to buy a tree in Southern California when the Santa Ana winds are blowing and it is 88 degrees out…</p>
<p>I must be getting old. Plastic trees are looking better and better to me.</p>
<p>2331clk, your post was great! Sounds like my house. We are still buying real trees. I complain every year. DW finally cracked and admitted a fake tree “might” be welcome in the near future. I suspect that once our last child leaves the nest, the fake tree will take over. I already see that as the kids get older, we put out less and less decorations for ALL holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Don’t get me going about hanging lights on the house outside. Clark Griswold I am not! This year, the only outside lights I am doing is the front door. Go ahead and call me a Grinch! Bah humbug! :)</p>