So... Real or fake?

For those that have trees this time of year, real or fake?

I grew up always having real ones.  Momma said it was what made Christmas Christmas, trudging out into the middle of the woods, each of us with hatchets just our size, and hacking away at the prettiest tree we could find only to lug it home, torture it some more with shears, then load on more tinsel than one should legally be allowed to purchase.

Remembering how sticky trees got and what happened to trees once the holidays passed, Alex and I opted for a fake tree this year.  Besides, we've got cats and they're going to climb throughout it, knock it down, and get pine needles everywhere.  Thanks, but no thanks.

I like that I can create the bald spot that faces the wall wherever I want it to  be.  I like that it doesn't smell like nature in my house (I spend too much on scented candles to get it to smell the way it smells).  I also like that I've left a tree in the ground as opposed to in my living room, where others, including the squirrels, can enjoy it more.

What I don't like, though, is the damned assembly.  I'm too Polish for this and thought the tree was done after putting all of the branches in their respective holes.  It turns out you have to open the branches, too.  I thought this would be more like an umbrella.  Take it out of the box, push the bar up, and it opens.  I was very, very wrong.

So real or fake?  What do you prefer and why?

Fake!   I always had a real one growing up - what a hassle!  You have to water it, it doesn't look "perfect" - you can't bend the braches to hold that ornament just right, the mess.

...&the fake one I got DOES fold up like an umbrella - 3 pieces with hinges on the branches.  It does require a lil "fluffing" though.  It is also pre-lit.  Love it!

dammit, i totally thought this thread was going to be about boobs.

Fake is a major + for me because it's just easier all around.

Yeah, the fake trees do need fluffing, but I don't mind it so much. I love that it's cat-proof and there's no need to keep a vacuum around it 24/7.

real, and farmed.  farmed trees are abundant, environmentally friendly (especially here, where they don't have to be shipped far), and they're perfectly shaped (you get the thin spots when they grow too close together; that doesn't happen with farmed trees).  and it's a low-impact, sustainable industry.

i hate the needles (i'm still finding them from last year!), but i love the smell.

i do miss the ritual of going out in the bush with my dad and poaching one, though.

I also do real and farmed, love the smell and any slight imperfections are perfect for some of my wackiest ornaments to slide right in.

I have planted some of my own, they are still too small for poaching.

It's tradition for my husband and I to scour the tree farm for the perfect tree, the owners always have some mulled cider for their patrons and grand stories are exchanged on everybody's year. I think I would miss that.

I have dogs, so there isn't any climbing going on here, the needles are a pain, but due to the dogs I'm vacuuming anyway, so it's no extra work.

We turn the tree into much for the blueberry bushes, they love the acidity.

I have seen many really pretty 'fake' ones...it's all good I guess.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

real, and farmed.  farmed trees are abundant, environmentally friendly (especially here, where they don't have to be shipped far), and they're perfectly shaped (you get the thin spots when they grow too close together; that doesn't happen with farmed trees).  and it's a low-impact, sustainable industry.

i hate the needles (i'm still finding them from last year!), but i love the smell.

i do miss the ritual of going out in the bush with my dad and poaching one, though.

 ditto

I always had real ones growing up, and I thought that was the only way to go.

I never realized how helpful my dad was with the process.  Lugging around the tree, trimming it, putting it up straight, putting all the lights on.  All we had to do was to put on the ornaments (which is the fun part!).

Well, my husband is useless, and for the first 2 years of our marriage, he refused to help with the tree.  When I did trick him into it, he would whine, complain, pout, and then do a bad job.

So, last year I bought a really nice fake prelit tree.  Once it is all decorated, you can barely tell the difference.  I miss the pine scent, but I like that I can put it up so quickly, and I don't need any outside help from whiny children... I mean, husbands.

Fake.  Don't like the needles or hassling with the disposal.  If want pine smell (don't really miss it all that much), I'll get incense or a yankee candle.  Or, if you hang a couple of clove orange ornaments, that's a great holiday smell too.

Through all my years growing up my family always had a fake tree. Only one year we had a real one and it was a total mess..the smell of the pine was strong...having water at the bottom of it the damn animals would drink out of it and the pine needles were falling out all over the floor. Lmao.

So yeah fake...For awhile I thought this thread was about boobs as well. HA HA.

We have a fake this year, but when we have kids we will go back to the real ones.  I miss them and I loved going to the tree farms as a kid and getting to pick out the perfect tree.  I want my kids to have that experience.

We, too, have a dog, so the vacuuming is necessary regardless of whether we have a real or fake tree.

If we are taking a vote, my favorite is still real.

Fake as I don't like the idea of killing a tree just to put lights on it for a month. It's so sad seeing them all on the sides of the road waiting for the garbage guys to come take them away. :(

Hints for your tree:
Get some twine and tie it to the top of your tree and nail the other end to the ceiling.  This way kitties can climb it and it won't fall down.
No tinsel, not good for kitties bellies.
If you get a real tree make sure that it is not put up by a heat source.  It will dry out your tree.
If you rent, most landlords want you to have a fake tree because of the fire hazzards a real tree can cause.
When you put up your tree let it sit for a day or two and settle before your put up your decorations.

We had an unbrella tree once.  You just took it out of the box and pulled down the branches and then decorated it.  No trying to figure out which branch went where.

We try to do live Christmas trees, so we can plant them afterwards. It depends a lot on if the ground is frozen though..so it can backfire.
We've done fake before also. 

I'm indifferent.

Original Post by cptbunny:

Fake as I don't like the idea of killing a tree just to put lights on it for a month. It's so sad seeing them all on the sides of the road waiting for the garbage guys to come take them away. :(

they can be chipped and recycled.  it's a whole lot more earth-friendly than plastic trees, virtually all of which are manufactured in asia under virtually no environmental oversight, then shipped across the pacific and trucked around north america, only to eventually end up in a landfill, where they will contribute even further to environmental degradation.

Fake is more convenient as I don't have any way to transport a real one.  I grew up with real ones and have some lovely memories with my Dad and brother on the big hunt.  We did have permission to take the tree that needed to be thinned off the farmers property.  Please though, if you get a fake one don't let it be one of those silver ones that looks like a bunch of tinseled bottle brushes sticking out of it's trunk.  My grandmother had one in the 60's and it was the most horrible excuse for a Christmas tree I ever saw, even seen from the eyes of a 10 year old.

fake...allergic to real

Original Post by pgeorgian:

Original Post by cptbunny:

Fake as I don't like the idea of killing a tree just to put lights on it for a month. It's so sad seeing them all on the sides of the road waiting for the garbage guys to come take them away. :(

they can be chipped and recycled.  it's a whole lot more earth-friendly than plastic trees, virtually all of which are manufactured in asia under virtually no environmental oversight, then shipped across the pacific and trucked around north america, only to eventually end up in a landfill, where they will contribute even further to environmental degradation.

I know all this but it bothers me because they're alive... or was alive. :(

My family has had our tree for almost 30 years now.

Original Post by kaffwynn:

I always had real ones growing up, and I thought that was the only way to go.

I never realized how helpful my dad was with the process.  Lugging around the tree, trimming it, putting it up straight, putting all the lights on.  All we had to do was to put on the ornaments (which is the fun part!).

Well, my husband is useless, and for the first 2 years of our marriage, he refused to help with the tree.  When I did trick him into it, he would whine, complain, pout, and then do a bad job.

So, last year I bought a really nice fake prelit tree.  Once it is all decorated, you can barely tell the difference.  I miss the pine scent, but I like that I can put it up so quickly, and I don't need any outside help from whiny children... I mean, husbands.

These add the scent back. Or these if you're ghetto.

Original Post by spoiled_candy:

Hints for your tree:
Get some twine and tie it to the top of your tree and nail the other end to the ceiling.  This way kitties can climb it and it won't fall down.
No tinsel, not good for kitties bellies.

even easier, take the twine and leash the cat to a chair

that way you can also use tinsel

Real feels much more like Christmas. I love the smell.

But I purchased fake because I can't tie a real tree to my Dodge Neon, I don't want sap all over my apartment, I'm the WORST judge of size and I know I'd get one too big, and if I'm anything like my mum (and I am) I will pick the most crooked tree in the place. =/