Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or a plastic one?

Real Tree for me everytime.

The smell is lovely, and nothing can beat it to be honest.

The other kind can be lovely too, and some are very real looking, but it is the Smell that makes Christmas.

by jonaja

I have to agree about the smell. *heavenly*

There are four or five of us here that I think would be beyond hysterical in a get together . . . .and we'd all be saying the same thing at the same time too . . !!

Qld . . .Bris Vegas.

AH YES.... :)

Hey Rice, when are we going to meet for Coffee? Cheers!

Check this out, jonaj. You can buy the smell. :-D https://www.candlescience.com/fragrance/christmas-tree-fragrance-oil

The scent. I meant, the scent! LOL.

that's cool being able to buy it :)

I don't think I have ever been close enough to a real tree to smell it. Therefore, I have to say that I would prefer a plastic one as they are reusable and less messy.

by Vee

Plastic because they last for years and don't shed their needles. With an artificial tree you can guarantee it is going to be the same size and shape each year, so no need to worry if the lights and other decorations will fit. Our artificial tree is 23 years old, which has made it a wonderful investment that overall has saved money.

by Bryony Harrison

BD and AD. Before divorce: real. After divorce: plastic. Although, I have not had one at all for about six years, other than a cute little one I use as the table centrepiece for Christmas dinner.

by Rice

We are sooo much alike it is scary.!!!

I KNOW you are right! lol
what state are you in?

A real one, every time. I like the smell.

by Jennifer Muirhead

https://www.candlescience.com/fragrance/christmas-tree-fragrance-oil

That would not be quite the same. I would remind folks upset about the tree killing part that they are plantation trees, often ones that needed to be cut down anyway (because they didn't make the grade for paper, or are sprouting on the edge of the plantation where they will make the soil too acidic for other things to grow). And they decompose, as opposed to plastic which may be around for millenia.

I would like a real one but don't think i could be bothered cleaning up the mess :P

by Juicylucy

Same here. I have a horrid memory of some neighbours who had real trees. One year they hauled the tree out of their house and there were hundreds of needles everywhere for what seemed like months. No thanks.

Really? It takes me about two minutes with a dustpan and brush to clean up the needles after we take ours out. Maybe they didn't water theirs and it wilted too much.

Maybe. Who knows.

We have a realistic plastic tree with LED lights. Its more a convenience to us. We used to have real tree in a pot that we would bring inside every year. It died and we just never replaced it. I don't like the idea of cutting down a real tree and then throwing it away a month later. This is a living thing !! Bit selfish if you ask me. I don't appreciate cutting down trees unnecessarily for ANY reason, Christmas included.

by Lluxi

Yes. Kill a tree to celebrate the birth of Jesus. How illogical. However, I do think that fewer people are using real trees these days and certainly the price is beyond ridiculous. There was an ad on TV for real trees and I went to the website for a look and they were hundreds and hundreds of dollars. The cheapsest was on "sale" for $300. I was glad I was sitting down.

Christmas trees are actually a pagan tradition that predates Christmas. Christmas as we celebrate it today is a mishmash of different traditions from around the same time of year many of which (most of the fun parts actually) have nothing to do with Jesus.

Forgot to put the link http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_tree.htm

Do you realize how long it takes to grow a tree, I know there are tree farms. But go you think it is right to destroy a living thing for what maybe 2 or 3 weeks of making it pretty and then burning it? It is stupid, I never understood killing a living thing for stupid reasons. Oh my tree looks better than yours! Get a phony one, and it will look beautiful year after year, and your not killing something.

by lmars

Well, in my case we had a potted one for many, many, years and every Christmas we would bring it in and decorate it. Eventually we had to plant it out as we couldn't carry it any more so it went on to bigger and better things. The other real ones were slash pines which stop the natives from growing so we used to let friends come and take them for Christmas. They did make a mess and invariably dropped their needles on the very day it was decided to mulch them. Revenge of the slash pines.

Also, "real" can mean just a limb from a tree. We used to take a limb from a gum tree and decorate it and then mulch it after Christmas. Not all "real" trees are dead trees, it is just a turn of phrase.

When we were children it was always a fresh tree. I don't think plastic ones were invented then. We did have real ones early on when the girls were very young but having to clean up the mess and dispose of the dead tree was a chore. I love my imitation one, no mess, just fold down and store away until next year. My dream would be having a blue spruce tree growing in my yard which I could use every year as I've seen growing in Europe (without the snow unfortunately ).

by helga

Growing up we always had a real tree.
The smell was fabulous and it looked fantastic.

Then when I moved to inner suburbs of Melbourne, on my own, not only did I not know where to source a real tree, or have transportation of my own, I lived in small rooms, sharing and then a one bedroom apartment. Very difficult to get a real tree.

The small plastic one I bought has colour changing lights, its cool! I like it!

Now we live in a bigger house of our own, I don't think I could get a real one, lack of transport and I don't know where to get one.

by pippa

I found this and thought you might be interested: Christmas tree scent...https://www.candlescience.com/fragrance/christmas-tree-fragrance-oil - See more at: https://answerangels.com.au/do-you-prefer-a-real-christmas-tree-or-a-plastic-one/#sthash.8cP9pSXM.dpuf :-D

We had a really thick, bushy Pine Tree about 12' high, in front of house.

We used to decorate it. Didn't leave any presents under it though! But it did look beautiful, & as we at a Tram Section Stop, the people alighting used to admire it, so it gave much pleasure to many. Nobody ever stole deccies' off it. Different world in the '50's & '60's.

Before Easter, the PP used to come down & collect a basketful of fronds, in readiness for Ash Wednesday. Ours was THE best, & right type of pine tree in the Parish! What an honour for our lovely, little pine tree!

I can still picture it!

by donjo

What lovely memories! Thanks for sharing, Rice. :-D

Crud, sorry donjo.

Vee, what do u mean by 'crud'. Unusual reply.

'Crud' is a way of saying 'darn'(made a mistake) it is an old saying...even I use to use years ago...LOL :)

Oh! I see. My thanks, Vee.

LOL, thanks for clarifying jonaj. donjo, that is the sense I meant. I use 'crud' as it is less offensive and reminds me of this film that I loved as a child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYN8BXmb6h4

When we'd our children, it was a very good quality plastic one, which lasted about 16 years. Long enough for the kids to enjoy decorating it, & all the goodness of the Season!
The Nativity Scene was set up under, too.

by donjo

The smell of a real tree is how Christmas should smell but they have become so costly that I have sadly settled for a cheap plastic one, which I decorate but it does not make me as happy as a real one used to.

by sarma

I wonder if anybody sells a Christmas tree scent...https://www.candlescience.com/fragrance/christmas-tree-fragrance-oil - You're welcome. O:-)

neither

by Finy

Our family back in Scotland always used to have real trees when we were children and the smell was gorgeous. They always used to last for a long time without drying out, probably because of the cold weather. Here in Australia I have always had an artificial tree which is incredibly realistic. I think in the tropics it is a bit impractical to have a real tree here as they dry out so quickly, even with careful watering, plus you seem to be vacuuming up dried up pine needles all year after discarding the tree. If you want to emulate the fragrance of a pine tree there are many candles you can buy which do just that.

by norma

Real

by Knoll

real only

by lc212