<p>We buy ours from a Christmas tree stand here in town - usually a 7-foot Douglas fir for about $45-50. The family that runs the business is incredibly nice, and it’s been fun to see their kids, who help out, growing up. When we were kids, we were the first on our block to buy an artificial tree, which was considered very mod at the time. 
My dad’s joke after assembling the thing, every single year, was “Who says only God can make a tree?” I sure miss him.</p>
<p>Have never had an artificial tree and can’t imagine starting anytime soon. We either go to a tree farm, or, if we’re feeling lazy and/or the weather is lousy, we head off to Stew Leonard’s. Of course all the decorating is up to me, which is OK (not great, but OK) – as is the undecorating, which is not OK. This year, since D’s semester ends earlier than the past couple of years, we’ll wait for her. It’s more fun w/ the kids.</p>
<p>When our kids were little, we cut our tree from a local tree farm. The farm was owned by an older couple who grew the trees as a side business. Our kids loved going to their farm. The owner would load customers onto a big wagon in his backyard. A tractor would pull everyone across a little stream and wind up a steep hill to get to the Christmas tree acreage. If the kids got too cold, they could warm their hands at a fire and have a cup of hot chocolate. The owners and their grown sons hand trimmed each tree. Every one was close to perfect and the prices were very reasonable. For many years the farm was a secret jewel. The owners did no advertising; people found out about it by word of mouth. One year when we were picking out our tree, we learned that the local Kiwanis club had discovered the farm and spread the word. The farm sold 200 trees in one weekend, which was an astonishing record for them. The end result was that they had to shut down for about 5 years to wait for their baby trees to grow up! We were so glad when they re-opened. We went to every tree farm in our area during those 5 years and never did find a tree that could hold a candle to theirs.</p>
<p>For the past 10 years or so we have had an artificial tree. I developed an allergy to real trees that got worse every year. I got to a point where I had to wear rubber gloves to decorate the tree. If I touched the tree with bare skin I’d get a rash and itch for hours. I also noticed that everyone in my family seemed to get some kind of respiratory illness every year at Christmastime. My H has mild asthma and both of our Ds developed mild asthma around age 11. The last couple of years that we had a real tree in the house, I seemed to develop allergic asthma-type symptoms. I had never had any hint of asthma when I was younger. I finally put two and two together and issued an ultimatum to H and Ds. The real trees had to be banished for our health!</p>
<p>I put up our fake tree yesterday. My H remarked to me that it still looks beautiful. It’s a very fat, full-looking tree - just the way we like them! It’s showing no sign of wear. hopefully, it will last many more years. </p>
<p>FYI, I solved the no scent problem with a little bottle of pine tree scented oil from Bath and Body Works. I put a few drops of it on the tree each year and it makes it smell almost like the real thing.</p>
<p>From now on, I will be getting my Christmas tree from my own backyard. We have plenty of what H calls “garbage firs” (the offspring of the large Douglas fir that sits in the back or our yard). I used to weed them out, but I let a few of them grow thinking they’d make perfect Christmas trees. We tested one last year, and it exceeded our expectations: it was fresh, it smelled nice and did not shed too much.</p>
<p>We used to get them at a local nursery, but now they are too expensive and since the turnover is bad—they are dried out. (So Cal sun!)
So, the last few years we have been very happy with our Target trees. The delivery at our Target is this next Thurs. and we will get on that evening. They are so fresh, that by New Years it will still be soaking up the water.</p>
<p>I got a fake one this year from KMart. 
My boyfriend is allergic so no more real trees for me…</p>
<p>Got my tree from a tree farm down the tree. They have cut your own but I am over that. I bought a freshly cut (last week) Concolor Fir for $56.00. It’s about 7 ft tall.
I am allergic too but also allergic to dust. Artificial trees are dust magnets. I just take my Zyrtec and sneeze.
Gonna try and get the tree up this week - it’s soaking in a bucket of water in the garage. I just bought new LED lights for it and I am pretty excited!</p>
<p>We currently have a 20-foot artificial tree that we place in our grand room and a smaller 12-foot artificial tree for our living room. They are both beautiful but the larger one requires a professional to come out with a lift to install and decorate, which is usually a hassle and requires an entire day of my time. The larger tree has just over 20,000 tips and uses about 7000 LED lights so it’s no small feat to get it up and looking perfect.</p>
<p>I couldn’t imagine the mess and damage that a real tree would bring to my carpeting and rugs. I’d probably have a panic attack. :)</p>
<p>We get a real tree from a local nursery. I got a live tree one year, but it didn’t survive and was heavy and awkward. I don’t want more trees in our small yard, it’s already too shady - so I don’t see the point in a live tree. If the local government would take it, it would be a win-win situation though. </p>
<p>When I was younger we lived in Somalia for two years. One year my Mom made a tree out of a flagpole (the indoor variety that is on a stand) and green ribbons. We pinned our ornaments to the tree. Another year she put a paper painted tree shape on the back of the bookcase and we put the ornaments on the shelves. I remember those two trees with great fondness.</p>
<p>Bartell’s. Get a new one every few years as the old one dies. Lights included. Just add some bulbs and it’s done. We like the three footer. Fits right on the table.</p>
<p>Interesting idea, ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad. I see you live in the San Diego area. I suspect it might cause problems in the NE to drag a tree into the house from freezing weather for a month, then back out to freezing weather. Plus, my house has ceilings less than 8 feet high, so it would not be useable as long. I don’t feel bad from an environmental standpoint using a cut tree, because I know the farm will plant more.</p>
<p>When we were first married, H and I had a small Norfolk pine tree that lived indoors in a pot, which got deocrated for the season.</p>
<p>Now, we purchase live ones. Our local Target was only selling fake trees this year. I recalled seeing on a TV commercial that Home Depot was selling them, so off we went.</p>
<p>We decided to get a somewhat smaller one this year, a 5-6’ Noble Fir. We like the Noble Fir, as the needles are thicker and more densely packed than, say, the Douglas Fir.</p>
<p>These trees came from Corvallis, OR. While we were choosing ours, a worker came up and amended the sale sign and we saved another $10, paying $24 for the tree.</p>
<p>Since H is slightly allergic to them, our “tradition” is to leave the tree outside on the patio for a few days, which seems to be enough to drop most of the allergens.</p>
<p>S asked if he was taller or the tree shorter this year. I told him both were true. As usual, the dogs examed the tree while on the patio with much vigor, and happily did not pee on it (as far as we know!)</p>
<p>We’ve always gotten “real” trees from a lot that gets set up temporarily by a local family. Last year, D’s 1st away at college, we didn’t get one. H was getting more and more unhappy about doing most of the work, and the kids being less and less willing/available to help. This was further complicated by the fact that both of our kids have B’day during the last two weeks before Christmas. </p>
<p>We all kind of wondered if it was “because of D being gone” that we didn’t get one last year. We pledged to get in artificial one this year, but ended up buying a real one yesterday. It was cheaper than usual, and artificial ones more expensive than we thought. It turns out the environmental impact isn’t as obvious as I thought either. It helps a lot to know the local scouts compost them.</p>
<p>We have several huge (50 feet?) coast redwoods in the yard that I would love to decorate, but can’t seem to make it happen.</p>
<p>Where one must NOT get a tree:</p>
<p>[Rare</a> tree stolen from Washington Park Arboretum | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010468121_tree10m.html]Rare”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010468121_tree10m.html)</p>
<p>So sad.</p>
<p>My family usual get our Christmas tree from the local Home Depot. But this year, I think we may get it at Lowes and will compost the whole tree once Christmas is over.</p>
<p>Tree farm. We used to cut it down…very festive…you go on a hayride-like adventure and then get dropped off to look for a tree. I’m SOOOO picky though…would drive my H and S crazy every year.
We still go to the same tree farm but buy off the lot. It seems so much easier. And the trees seem just as fresh. They tend to pick the nicest ones to put out so no more trouble finding one that I like!</p>
<p>We go the the nursery and purchase an aptos blue redwood. They are usually about five feet tall and a little on the scrawny side, but after the holidays we plant them outside. I love the look of redwood trees.</p>
<p>I still remember the little tree we got back in 1989. That was the year my son was born and two weeks later, we moved into our newly built house on the farm. It was with such sadness when we dug up that tree a few years ago to make room for a deck and koi pond.</p>
<p>We go to one of the tree farms in the Pine Barrens. Saturday we found one where every tree on the place was $35, very plentiful and very pretty trees.</p>