Real or Fake christmas

Merger

Noble Fir ; That is the only tree that will cross the foothold of my door!

But what about you? Do you go real or fake?

Loughc

Love the smell off the real ones, but I normally use fake ones, no maintaining, they don't die on you and you can store them away and use again next year!

Posy

I have a fake Christmas tree. It doesn't mean I have a 'fake Christmas' though! :eek:

Deedsie

Fake sounds terrible. Artificial Christmas trees can look great to be fair. I'd be all for the real ones, but its a bit of a rob in recent years. I'm thinking this year to just bite the bullet and get an artificial tree.

Merger

It was early, I was tired and now I am ashamed

Merger

Deedsie wrote: »

Fake sounds terrible. Artificial Christmas trees can look great to be fair. I'd be all for the real ones, but its a bit of a rob in recent years. I'm thinking this year to just bite the bullet and get an artificial tree.

Totally agree with you. Spent 65 euro last year but to be fair it was a 6 footer.

star-pants

Previously asked before (just if you're interested in those results)

We have artificial trees, can't have the real ones as they affect my dad's chest. They look darned nice when they're all done up.

Merger

Cool I wonder if results will change much this year :P

fishy fishy

artificial - they look just like real ones, and you can "scent" the room by putting a candle in there. A lot less hassle and work.

Whispered

We've always gone for real, but I'm not sure this year. I'd like to make a decision on an ethical basis but I'm not sure which is more so. There is something very sad every year when it comes time to scrap the dead tree.

gidget

Love the real one's & the smell of them. When i have my own place it'll be real ones i use, however in the family home it's fake & this year will be our 16th year using it.

DakotaYoda

Real, real, real... in fact there really is no other option. :P:P:P

cookie75

Love real ones but have been using artificial for the last few years was thinking of growing one/buying a potted one that can be transferred back outside after the festive season at least that way it would last a few years and then could be planted outside for good after it gets too big

Calibos

Keeping the 3 year old 10 foot fake one and ditching the 12 year old 6ft fake tree for a real tree. ie. 10ft Fake in one room and 6-7ft real in another room. We've had all fake for years and I really miss the smell of a real tree in the house. Best of both worlds this year.

Charl0tte

I alternate what I use each year. I love a real tree at Christmas, but I pull the fake one out of the attic every second year to be a little more enviro friendly. It's real tree year this year!

Loughc

Seeing Calibos' pictures is making me excited for when the Let's see your Christmas Trees thread get going again this year! I love that thread!!

omb0wyn5ehpij9

It has to be real for me. It isn't Christmas without the smell of a real Christmas tree!

iguana

I like the idea of a real tree in theory but tbh the real trees that are available in Ireland are nearly all crap looking. They are skeletal, even the best bushiest ones that cost a lot more are skeletal on top, and do not say Christmas to me. I much prefer the fraser fir but as they aren't readily available I prefer a good quality fake as they tend to be modelled on the fraser.

That said, using a real tree is so much easier as erecting a a good quality fake is a major faff.

BrensBenz

Artificial - real trees attract the attention of pups. Fairy lights + pup's wee wee = a less than happy Christmas.
Also, with a little planning, the artificial tree can be disassembled and stored in the attic without removing the danglies, thereby saving hours of tedious dressing next year.
If you really want a fir or cedar smell, Halfords have all flavours in stock.

Deedsie

iguana wrote: »

I like the idea of a real tree in theory but tbh the real trees that are available in Ireland are nearly all crap looking. They are skeletal, even the best bushiest ones that cost a lot more are skeletal on top, and do not say Christmas to me. I much prefer the fraser fir but as they aren't readily available I prefer a good quality fake as they tend to be modelled on the fraser.

That said, using a real tree is so much easier as erecting a a good quality fake is a major faff.

I disagree with a lot of that, every year until this year we got a real tree. Always beautifully bushy trees, lovely smell not skeletal at all! The price has never been above €35.

Real trees are far more difficult to erect than the artificial tree we got this year. It takes about 45 seconds and is also a very good looking tree!

leahyl

It's 'fake' all the way for our family:pac: We've just always had a fake tree so I love it as it's always full - the real trees are almost see through here. My american friend was saying the other day that the real trees here are nothing like the ones you get in the states. The ones in the states are really full and look like the fake ones you get here!

iguana

Deedsie wrote: »

I disagree with a lot of that, every year until this year we got a real tree. Always beautifully bushy trees, lovely smell not skeletal at all! The price has never been above €35.

Real trees are far more difficult to erect than the artificial tree we got this year. It takes about 45 seconds and is also a very good looking tree!

What sort of artificial tree takes under a minute to erect? The last one I had took about an hour and a half. It looked amazing but by the time it would be up I'd be half sick of it. Though much worse was taking it down. A depressing job at the best of times but spending the best part of an hour taking it down and trying to keep all the coded bits together so it would be easier to piece together the next year is extremely tedious. If there is something that looks good and goes up quickly I'd love to get it.

I've had real trees the last couple of years and all you have to do with them is twist the stand in and put them up. It takes a minute or two at most and it's the same when they were coming down. But even though I aimed to get the best one I could, they were still skeletal compared to a good fake or a really good quality fraser.

Toto Wolfcastle

We got a great one in Dunnes a couple of years ago that has 3 parts to it. To put the tree together (minus the decorations obviously) I'd say it takes 3 minutes at most.

Alicat

I love my fake tree but one of my fat cats has crushed two of the bottom branches And said branches are on either side of the tree so it's very hard to get a good angle!

Mine has three centre poles, but into each pole, you've to attach branches one by one around the 'trunk'. It's tedious but the tree is so full looking! I think it's on page 2 or 3 of the Christmas Tree thread.

Deedsie

iguana wrote: »

What sort of artificial tree takes under a minute to erect? The last one I had took about an hour and a half. It looked amazing but by the time it would be up I'd be half sick of it. Though much worse was taking it down. A depressing job at the best of times but spending the best part of an hour taking it down and trying to keep all the coded bits together so it would be easier to piece together the next year is extremely tedious. If there is something that looks good and goes up quickly I'd love to get it.

I've had real trees the last couple of years and all you have to do with them is twist the stand in and put them up. It takes a minute or two at most and it's the same when they were coming down. But even though I aimed to get the best one I could, they were still skeletal compared to a good fake or a really good quality fraser.

I bought an artificial two weeks ago. It comes in four parts, the stand, bottom, middle and top. Each slots into the previous. 45 seconds it took me. An hour and a half is ridiculous, are you including decorating it? Sure that's the fun part!

iguana

No, not including decorating. I had an 8ft tree that was about 6ft wide. You put up the base, then inserted each branch and each branch had about 10-15 branches off it (the lower levels had more), so you'd have to separate them to fill out the tree. IIRC there were 60 branches altogether. And then a final part with a number of single branches went on top to make the pointed part. I bought it when I lived in a house with a huge bay window and the tree really looked amazing there but it took forever to assemble.

It was a bit like this.

leahyl

Bobblehead Panda wrote: »

We got a great one in Dunnes a couple of years ago that has 3 parts to it. To put the tree together (minus the decorations obviously) I'd say it takes 3 minutes at most.

I'd say we have the same tree! Brilliant tree - not too wide but nice and full at the same time!:)

Links234

Festivus pole! :pac:

Boscoirl

I find fake trees perfect for September 1st till the 20th December, then a real tree till mid to late January

paddy147

Real for me.

Had an 8 foot real tree indoors last year and a 13 footer outside aswell.

400 clear led lights on the outdoor tree and it was beautifull.

Just ordered my Xmass tree for outside today.A 14 foot tree and should be delievered for the last weekend of November.

Maggie 2

We've had the same artificial tree for the last 25 years. It's tradition in our family now. It still looks great. We add to the decorations now and then. We've got old hand knitted stockings made by Grandma over 20 years ago. We still put a small choccie bar in each and take bets on how long before someone (usually me) eats them!