Your Christmas trees; real or fake?

[Jerry W]

For those of you that celebrate Christmas, what type of tree do you have? If you pick a real tree, any particular species?
We have gone with Frasier fir for the last 18 years. Excellent needle retention, drink water until the day you take them down and a fragrance that fills the house. Very soft needles too, that won't send you through the roof if you step on one.

[dogfacepuffer]

We're going for real because we finally have the space for a nice sized tree!!

[Nanook]

Real for many, many years. We decided that a large, custom artificial tree with the lights fabricated into the tree would be easier and less messy. We got a pretty good deal on the tree and it is absolutely beautiful.


nanook

[Beverly]

Fake with white lights pre-wired all over the branches. Have seen some new fake trees with both pre-wired lights and fibre optic lighting. Very cool :cool:

[Jamesurq]

Real baby - no question about it. Bigger the better - cut it yourself .... Then curse the sap on your fingers and arms....

[tooshay]

Nothing compares to the smell that greets you when you walk into a house with a real tree. Ahhh....

[TheBimbo]

:rollface: Gotta have the real thing. Nothing beats the smell and the beauty of a real tree. My hubby would like to get an artifical tree, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. :rollface:

[jimroth]

Gotta be real for me. That smell MEANS Christmas! I'm like Proust and his stinkin' madelaines!

[Niven]

Real here too.

What about lights?
My parents have always used the big bulbs as opposed to the small lights. I like the big ones.
Gotta have some bubble lights too.

[Megalodon]

This is my third Christmas in this apartment. I'm all into the real tree thing so the first year I got a real nice one. It was huge. My friend and I carried it from the underground to my apartment via the evelator. I have extra-high ceilings but I still had to cut two feet off!

Well aparently you can't have real trees in apartments. Two strata ladies literally followed the trail of pine needles from the parking all the way to my front door to tell me. I couldn't deny it at that point.

Needless to say, this is year two of a fake tree.

[BrianD]

Fake. I would rather leave the real trees in the ground.

[Jamesurq]

as you sit by your wooden desk admiring piles of papers.....;)

[Sharpy]

Gotta be real! Not Christmas without the carpet of needles on day after...

[BrianD]

as you sit by your wooden desk admiring piles of papers

You are banned. Pick up your last check and go home.

[Jamesurq]

Originally posted by BrianD
You are banned. Pick up your last check and go home.

:lol:

My last check bounced......;) must have spent the balance on the big server upgrade....

[Mandoman]

This is the second year of our fake tree.. It's actually quite nice. It is sectional, so you can make it as tall as you want, up to 8 feet.

My wife was in a car wreck a couple of weeks ago and hurt her back. And since she is the one who sets up the tree, she only assembled the very top portion. So our tree is only 2 feet tall.

I call it our Christmas tree frag.:D

[Obi-dad]

Real, balsam fir. They say not the best needle retention, but these will last 6 weeks fine if you cut it fresh, then before putting it in the stand cut another inch off and directly in the water, then always keep the water higher than the bottom of the tree. If you don't do that, the cut will sap over and the tree won't take any water and will dry out quickly.

And doing the Chevy Chase Christmas vacation routine is fun!

[beerguy]

Fake Christmas trees? That's like fruit in beer; just not right.

[Angel 1]

White pine all the way, all the smells of a fir without the risk of death from falling into it.

[Obi-dad]

'Risk of death'? Please explain before I die. :mixed:

[Jerry W]

We had blue spruce the first two years we were married. Pretty but dried out in two weeks and touching it was like grabbing a porcupine. The needles were like nails and those that fell off (and there were hundreds) and got embedded in the carpet were horrible to step on in stocking feet.

[rspar]

Fake!! No way I'd rather have rubberfish in my tank. Well maybe not that.

[Obi-dad]

Agreed. Colorado blue spruce are pretty, but way too sharp. The first time I got one i had hundreds of cuts. Then next time (I apparently don't learn quickly), many cuts. No more. Firs rule.

[elefink]

Chanukah bush here...

[emilye2]

My house has three dogs, three cats, two kids, and a husband....Fake tree here thank you very much. I'll just buy some pine scented candles and call it good. :)

[toddpolish]

the smell of a real tree. nice!

[AttackDonut]

I have always used the following:

Real tree.
Real candles on the tree (white and red).
Red and White ornaments only. (reflecting the colours of the Danish Flag, since I am Danish)

[jun_celis]

Fake...ever since. I can't have a real one just because I have little kids. They thought the tree is real and picking all the hanging balls, they think it apple tree.

[TheBimbo]

A tip for the real tree people. Adding some sprite into the water of your tree when you water , they say it adds to the longevity of the tree with the sugar. We have been doing this for like 12 years so far and we haven't lost alot of needles. Lasts for about 4 weeks or so. :rolleyes: Anybody else hear this before??? :rolleyes:

[Jerry W]

Never heard of the sprite thing, but as mentioned earlier watering with hot water prevents the sap plug from forming. I believe some of the commercial additives for prolonging tree life contain sugar so there must be something to it.
Another fine use for pop!

[Jamesurq]

I heard Mark Weiss makes a product for that too....;)

[Niven]

My parents (and I when I was there) go out Thanksgiving weekend and get a real tree. It stays up until the Super Bowl....every year! Also burns really well at that point :)

[new2]

Real 10' this year !

[Angel 1]

Obi-dad white pines have very soft needles. So less chance of little ones (or people that are a little too happy from the eggnog) getting hurt if they fall into the tree.

[rspar]

bah humbug

[Steve_B]

Mine is a cyborg. Part living, part machine.

[Vicious]

Real 10' and a 3' fake (fiber optic lighting and it turns). This is my first christmas in the house and the charlie brown tree was my apartment tree.... but I love it so had to keep it!

[Nek]

This si the first I heard of anyone using a White Pine for a christmas tree.....How doe the sap treat you?????

Also, Im not sure if you do this, and not really sure whol told me about it. As it was said earlier, cut the bottom sliver off the trunk when you get it home. Take this sliver, write/paint on it your name/names, the date, where you are living, where you got the tree, how much you paid for it, etc etc, and shellac over it. After a few years you will have a nice collection of tree slivers to display as decorations (we put ours on top of the windows, we have 6), and it is interesting to see where you lived 10 years down the road, etc.

[sharpy98]

GOTTA BE REAL

[oz]

Artificial for me. I spray it with pine scent and it smells like X'Mas every time. Real tree is such a waste, IMO and a fire hazard.