Christmas Trees, Artificial or Real.

[di]

We get a real one...and yep,the needles drop & I seem to still manage to stand on an upturned one well into the new Year!
I love the smell & how it looks,but I think one of the biggest things is the event of going to choose it.For us,it signals the true beginning of Christmas.(after,of course,the advent calendars...which,for once,I've been really good & bought the chocolates for,before December!)

[Bigmallly]

I love my xmas tree, just plug it in & away it goes for 2 weeks...........

[pipkins]

We bought a big artificial ones last year with berries and cones and fixed lights. Should last forever

[grannymem]

We get a real one...and yep,the needles drop & I seem to still manage to stand on an upturned one well into the new Year!
I love the smell & how it looks,but I think one of the biggest things is the event of going to choose it.For us,it signals the true beginning of Christmas.(after,of course,the advent calendars...which,for once,I've been really good & bought the chocolates for,before December!)

I totally agree about the special feeling and celebration of it all. We always go to a nearby farm a few weeks ahead, wander in the plantation of trees and when we find the right one, attach a wooden sign with our name and the day we'll collect it so it can be cut ready for us. We've chosen this year's tree (Nordman - only £15.00) and will collect it the week before Christmas. As a family, we've been going to the same local farm for years and there's always the feeling of being welcomed back as part of their local family.

And yes, after the posts above, I do feel a little guilty about cutting the trees but it does keep the local small farms viable and the tree will get recycled.

[lettucegrow!]

Has to be a real one for us! I buy one with the thicker needles and it doesn't go up until week before christmas day. Our local Nursing home sells them to raise funds for the home. The tree shed very little and goes the back door on 12th night just looking very shriveled but with needles intact.

[HeyWayne]

In our experience, though we'd love a real tree we haven't got the room. They're so wide!

A friend of ours one year bought a 12ft tree (they had a double height ceiling in the lounge). Trouble was it was about as wide again - the tree that is.

[OllieMartin]

Since I live on my own (sob) it's a tad too much effort to head off into the woods with an axe to find myself a real one. The plastic one comes out of the loft and I generally forget to take it down until February.
But I've got a new housemate moving in, who's a friend of mine, and it's the first time he's lived away from his folks. So he's begged me to wait for him before we decorate the tree!

[Pumpkin Becki]

it's the first time he's lived away from his folks. So he's begged me to wait for him before we decorate the tree!

Awww bless!

We have artifical trees, we bought a second one last year so that we had one at each house. Now they are both in residence at the new house - one for the hall and one for the sitting room...we might have to get one for the kitchen as well, I wouldn't like it to feel left out would I.

[Bex]

I don't bother with a tree, as the dog would eat it.

[bobleponge]

Live on my own apart from the dog, and he would only wee up it.
No tree of any description for me.

[snuffer]

Has to be real trees in the snuffer house. A big one in the living room and a smaller one in the dining room. Have special stands that can be filled with water and we keep them topped up over the festive period. It is surprising how much water is needed.

Another 'tradition' we have is that, after twefth night the trees are taken down and the trunks trimmed of all branches (these are shreded and put on the compost heap). The trunks are put into the garage to dry. Next Christmas the dry trunks are sawn into short lengths and then, on Christmas Eve, (has to be Christmas Eve) burned on the fire. That way last years trees always play a part in this years celebration.

[SlugLobber]

Real tree for me. I get one from a local farm that grows them every year. Costs £8-£10, depending on size. No way would I get one from a garden centre or similar. Bleedin rip offs!

[ginger ninger]

The trunks are put into the garage to dry. Next Christmas the dry trunks are sawn into short lengths and then, on Christmas Eve, (has to be Christmas Eve) burned on the fire. That way last years trees always play a part in this years celebration.

That is so nice, what a lovely idea snuffer

[HayleyB]

Last year we were a bit broke, in the front garden is an ex-Xmas tree about 20ft in height, we chopped off the top and it was a perfect shaped tree for Xmas. The tree outside looks daft still

[jackie j]

As a kid we always had a real tree and it was big, from floor to the fairy's head touching the ceiling. I carried on this tradition for quite a few years when I got my own house. One year son no 3 announced he was getting married on december 14th, no way could I do wedding stuff and christmas stuff and it was too early to put a real tree up, a plastic one it was for a few years, last year I managed to persuade OH to but a real one and hopefully we will again this year.