Every year we have a real Christmas tree and up till recently, I've always loved it. But for the last couple of years, I find I can hardly be bothered. I've looked at artificial trees and I've found some that look OK. But they do look quite complicated to assemble and maybe quite time-consuming?

If we had an artificial tree, do you pack it up and put in away in bits each time? Or do you store it somewhere (maybe garage?)

Does the time saved hoovering up all the needles then get spent on assembling/disassembling the artificial tree?

Are people pleased with their artificial trees?

What do you think?

We have 2 real trees every year. one inside and one outl
But I do remember every year as a kid  putting the artificial one up by numbers. ! being the bottom layer and numbers going upwards with layers!!!!
i would buy an artificiasl one, but I want a good one and cannot afford £100 +
Lea :) :) :)

The only artificial tree I thought was any good was one my friend got from John Lewis, it's about 15 years old now and still looks great, she even squirts it with a pine scent lol. It comes apart in two bits and gets put in a cardboard box in the attic. I've had those trees that are supposed to not drop their needles but it still did, despite being in a reservoir and in a cool place.
I don't bother with decorations at all now, it's very liberating not to be caught up in all the Crimbo madness.

I've had an artificial tree for about 14 years now - the same one (I've only just realised just how old it is!!) It's done really well, looks pretty convincing and doesn't take too long to assemble and disassemble. Each of the "branches" has a colour coded band on it so you can tell which tier it's supposed to be. It was expensive - but it's been worth it :)

We normally get a real one from one of the nearby farms but have opted this year for an artificial one - got it half price from Tesco.  Meant to be £50.....not worth that but OK for £25.   It was a doddle to put up - took about 1/2 an hour. 

Going to miss that lovely smell when you walk in the door though.  Wonder if you can get pine tree plug ins!

This is my first year ever of having an artificial tree, the branches are attached on hinges, so simple to put up, just slot 3 pieces (bottom, middle and top) together, and fold branches down, I love it!  And it looks real as well, but wasn't a cheapie one, cost £108, but then the low needle drop trees were costing me near £40 each year.

I'm happy with ours, think it was from Homebase. Takes about 5 minutes to assemble and disassemble and has lasted several years so far.

i have a Black Box slim tree (couldn't tell you what kind, never thought to look!), but it's great! Comes in two sections, the bottom has separate beaches to attach, but they're on hangers almost, and just slot on to the stem.  Really easy to put up, looks natural, easy to spread out, looks full when you've done it, easy to put away.  Fab!

Bought an artificial tree for the first time last year.  Our new house has the lounge upstairs so I got a real one for the hallway - stuck it in the stairwell - which looked a bit silly because the top disappeared from view!!  The artificial one in the lounge took some time to assemble and 'fluff' up.  Put it all back in the box carefully afterwards - but the box is too heavy for me to move by myself.   Got a smaller real one for the hall again this year - can't be bothered with needles in the carpet again so the artificial one will go back in the lounge.  Still rather the look of a real one - and the smell of pine.  The artificial one is so dense that hanging ornaments on is not so easy.  I have piles of bits and pieces collected over the years - including a little bell from when I was small.   They can only go on a real tree really.  You can hide things deep in the branches and push the lights in to make it more interesting.  If I only had the one then it would be a real one - needles and all.  It is easy to lay it on a cloth and take it outside after Christmas.  Dustpan and brush is easier if you have a lot of needles - otherwise you get a blocked vacuum cleaner!!

Oh and mine cost £15 this year!

Thanks everyone. Maybe I'll give an artificial one a go then.

We have a black artificial one which we bought when we moved here as the house is big enough to have two trees.

We always buy a real one for the lounge ( Father Christmas won't leave presents under a fake tree so I have been told ;-) )

We get the long needle variety (blue spruce) which doesnt shed too badly but having dogs with hair and mud we clean the floors everyday anyway so it doesn't make any difference !

Just done a google and you can order them on line which I think we will have to do this year as my getting the tree in the car OH won't be available this year !!

Bought a couple of artificial trees from B&Q sales at a fraction of the cost last year.Original price very expensive.Brilliant trees fairly easy to assemble.Also got LED lights at the same time that look great.

> Each of the "branches" has a colour coded band on it so you can tell which tier it's supposed to be. It was expensive - but it's been worth it

We have one like that, must have had it about 11 years. some of the coloured bands have come off which was causing problems when trying to assemble it. We now sort it as we take it down, wrapping each 'set' of branches together and putting a lable on them = so much easier now :)

It must take an hour to get the tree up/down properly, but it has some advatanges over a real one:
Looks as good as the day we bought it.
Does not drop needles everywere.
Cat does not poop in the tub it stands in!

I had to stop having real ones as my mum is allergic to them, and she comes over every Christmas and stays with us. We also had to stop having ornaments on trees as the cats just take them off and break them, and got sick from eating too much tinsel, and then when we got the Maine Coon 10 years ago we had to stop having lights in the tree as he is a cable chewer and has never grown out of it. So we have a fibre optic tree. It's brilliant, cost £50 in the B&Q sale a couple of years ago. (7 foot.) It's in 3 parts, takes about 5 minutes to put up each year, and Ringo can chew it as much as he likes without damaging anything serious, yet you get really pretty lights all over it. It looks lovely and there is no need for decorations. We just put a star on top. Best of all no needles to vacuum up.

I heard real trees cost as much as £35 this year -no way would I spend as much as that every year.

I am thinking of having a real one this year having always had artificial. As  for the smell yankee candle do a wax tart christmas tree smelling one that could be the answer.
best tree I had one year was the top 6ft off a holly that had been pruned nondrop really unusuall and looked great decorated
However slightly concerned that Brooke will eat the lot whatever I put up

Yes I've seen the price of real trees creeping up year on year. Like everything else I suppose. I have two artifical trees, one in the front room and one in the dining room. Like most things you get what you pay for. The prices (over £100) may make you raise an eyebrow but I think of the years and years use I'll get out of it. More economical than real and less messy. Yes I miss the smell and thought of a real tree but I'd not go back there.

>Yes I miss the smell and thought of a real tree but I'd not go back there.

If I couldn't have a real tree I wouldn't have a tree at all.

If I couldn't have a real tree I wouldn't have a tree at all.

That's how I felt but faced with either my mum having an asthma attack, or not being able to visit -the choice was easy. And once I'd got my first artificial tree I realised there was nothing that much to miss about the real ones.

They're so eco-unfriendly (made from fossil fuels in a factory powered by fossil fuels then transported halfway round the world using fossil fuels) I couldn't bring myself to have one. Real trees, on the other hand, are at worst carbon-neutral (when cut they stop absorbing carbon and only release the amount they've absorbed in their lifetime) and can be, if rooted and still growing, have a negative carbon footprint. As I say for me it's a real tree - even last year's dead one sprayed arty-farty white or silver - or none.

Can't believe the price of real trees now !, hell, I remember when they were £1 a foot !

>

Can't believe the price of real trees now !, hell, I remember when they were £1 a foot !

They are getting very expensive - we get ours from the farms which grow them and even then $$$ - hence why we have tried an artificial one.

Might have to go looking for the yankee candle though for the smell!

We have an artificial tree that we have had for a few years now and it still looks lovely. Took me about 15 minutes to put it together on sunday. Just a case of slotting the poles together and putting the branches in. I sort the branches into 4 piles which are different sizes then slot them in starting with the biggest branches at the bottom.

I take mine down each year but you can do what my aunty does and after you have immaculately decorated it with baubles and tinsel etc just cover it with a few bin bags and keep in the loft/garage all assembled and ready to just be uncovered and ready to go next year :-)

All in all it took me about 1 1/2 hours from getting the stuff out the loft, putting together and decorating to putting all the boxes and spare baubles back into the loft - not bad IMO.

And now its in place i dont have any hassle with droppin needles/watering/clearing up any mess. I love my artificial tree. Although, you do have to spend a bit more money to get one that doesnt look naff and cheap but when you work out how many years you keep it, its cheaper than buying a fresh tree every year.

I just dug my old artifical tree out (no pun intended!) from the garage night before last, although it's not out of the box yet.

It's about 7 years old I think and it's seen better days, but that said it's still looking pretty good - with careful decorating and judicial use of that angel hair stuff it looks goods enough :-P

Only trouble is it's 4ft wide at the base so I'm struggling for room this year - going to have to properly mount my TV and move the sky box et al so I can fit it where that is now!  It used to go in the opposite corner but since last christmas, I've ditched my old furniture and gained 3 sofas and an armchair which take up half the room!

We have a small supply of Christmas trees growing in the garden - but they are all getting too big to bring into the house now. We usually give them to friends, but even the friends with a converted barn think that they are too tall now :) :) Probably an artificial tree for us again this year :) :) :)

I used to have an artificial tree years ago and it was ok, took 1/2hr or so to get it up and looking right, but the ex OH insisted on a real tree so we've had that for several years, now he's gone ( and after throwing out the artificial tree) I have just bought myself a real tree.......potted with it's roots so that I can recycle it & use it next year and the year after that too.....cost £44 and is about 4ft tall.

> I have just bought myself a real tree.......potted with it's roots so that I can recycle it & use it next year and the year after that too.....

Ha! I did the very same thing about 25 years ago. After a while it got too big to bring indoors so I planted it at the bottom of the garden. It's now about 20 feet tall and has really got to go!!  Good luck with yours and be sure to keep it pruned - unless you have a massive garden!

Tescos have their trees at half price at the minute.  Our tree 'died' last year when we tried to take it apart to put away so I now have to decide whether to go real or not.  I'm thinking not but I do love the idea!!

I have just thought I OH won't be able to do his lumberjack impression this year as I go and get the tree and it is normally way too big for the holder so he has to chop the stump to fit !!

I think I will have to have my sensible hat on this year ! :-)

> .potted with it's roots so that I can recycle it & use it next year and the year after that too.....cost £44 and is about 4ft tall.

Brilliant, thats what I am going to buy..:-)

We're umming and ahing about real this year. OH sooo want's a real one, but I'm not convinced the beastie boy (not the OH) will be able to differentiate between the tree indoors and those he waters outside.

Artificial here about 7 foot one, its a bit time consuming as the branches are colour coded, but I take it down and lacky band the branches.
My son's help every year and Id be shot if I didnt have a tree!! I stopped having real ones when I got the dogs pine needles in a spaniel coat is a pain.

Ditto !!! My spaniel can pick his pressie out of all those under the tree, mind you I dont buy my sons pigs ears!!!

> My spaniel can pick his pressie out of all those under the tree

ive wrapped freds prezzies twice already-  he keeps finding them :-) Keep telling him he cant have it until the 25th but he doesnt listen :-)

I love having a real tree, we always had an artificial one when I was a kid so I'm still excited by the novelty of the real thing. My OH rang me to say he bought the tree today and its massive (silly man lol), I'm so excited, last year we ended up with just a holly branch from the garden with a bit of tinsel on because it was too snowy to drive into town for a tree.
I can't find my decorations anywhere though, so its going to be a very bare tree tonight!