Christmas Trees - Live vs. Artificial  

I would have to say I prefer artificial. Real trees are are good when your kids are little, but when you keep them too long and they dry out they drop their needles all over the place and that is something that I really dont like. I just think terhe are many things that dont translate too well to real life.

I would lie to have a real Christmas tree but there far to much hassle little needles all over the place.

Hey give me a realistic looking artificial tree any day. :)

Had a really unfortunate incident one year with the tree and a rat in it made real trees very taboo in my house.

Another pro for the artificial is cost a real tree needs to be replaced every year artificial what maybe once every 4-5 years and another thing is that damn smell from the real trees if thats the smell of Christmas keep it lol.

I was the same. When the kids were little I insisted that we have a real tree.....we would all go pick it out and decorate it together...then they grew up. The first year after my son (the youngest) left I had a heck of a time doing all the work myself! LOL...then when it came time to dispose of it and I had to try to carry it myself that was it.....I have two artifical ones now. Last year I even bought a smaller one....but I am hanging on to the larger one so I can change it out from year to year if I want.....I also have two smaller ones I decorate.

although my family celebrated christmas in full style we always had an artificial tree as do my family now.

Its basically the mess factor!, i cant stand mess, So its artificial all the way for me.

Hi wlee, I don't think trees should be cut down just for a bit of celebration and if they are they are a terrible nuisance anyway with all those needles getting underfoot everywhere. I wouldn't bother at all excpet my son likes to put things onto one so each christas the battered old artificial one gets dragged out. I don't think anyone in Greece cuts down real trees for this as christas isn't really a celebratio here though the tavernas usually also drag out a plastic tree and a bit of tinsel.

The first time I saw real Christmas trees was when I visited Germany and they looked so nice compared to artificial ones. The only setbact is, at least for me, that they put it up a day or two before Christmas and put it down few days after. I am not used to this because in the Philippines, some people put up Christmas trees as early as the latter part of November. We have one of the longest celebration of Christmas. I can not use artificial trees here for the difficulties of finding a perfectly shaped ones like in western countries so I have to be satisfied with artificial ones.

enjoy life!

i have had a few live trees but i hate the needles that fall off anf the potential for the tree to catch on fire so we have an artificial tree. i used to have a bigger artificial tree but as we have accumulated more and more over the years i never had a place to put it so i have a smaller tree now and it is fine for our needs.

My family only had artificial Christmas trees when I was growing up. It was not until I was married that I had my first real Christmas tree. Real ones smell so good but they take a lot of care. They need water so they don't dry out. Also, you have to be careful with some decorations. You don't want to burn down your Christmas tree. Artificial ones just need decorating. We have so many things on our minds during the holiday. Putting up an artificial tree relieves some of the burden.

Hi Wlee,

Here in my country most people (if not all) use artificial Christmas tree, maybe because the live tree is rarely available, unlike in your country. I haven't any experience putting up a live tree, but I guess just the thought that it is live connotes hard work - I think you really have to take care of the tree. As to the artificial tree, it is easier to manage, once it's up and has all the trimmings, it's good to go, up to the Christmas Eve and beyond, without much ado.

Well I like both. My last artificial tree become too shaggy so we got rid of it and started hunting down live trees. I don't like to pay for live trees when I have several in the woods to choose from. They might not look perfect but they do the trick. I love the smell of a fresh tree. We always compost ours or put it in a local pond. Now I am thinking about that fresh Christmas tree smell!