Real tree or prelit?

I found this a pleasant thread as I love Christmas. I was happy to give a opinion. I hope Rose's gets the tree she wants and enjoys it.
It's a shame that a poster refers to things being snobby with one upmanship so she can get it of her chest, it ruined a nice thread.

I have always loved and wanted a real tree, love the smell, but once when times were very hard couldnt afford a tree but went searching around and eventually found shop where they had a couple of large branches that had come off a tree and made them an offer for them and they actually gave them to me. I messed about at home with a pot etc and managed to get them put up in one pot and weighted them down, then covered them with soil etc and put the baubles on etc. It was worth the effort and the smell was authentic! Do you have a friend who goes mad with a large tree and could give you a branch or do you know someone with a tree that would not miss a branch? Or perhaps you can go to a farm that is selling trees and see if there is a really little one that you could have. If all else fails do your own decorations at home and get round to as many friends as you can who have a real tree and enjoy theirs!! Sometimes there are also quite fun things in churches where they have lots of different societies and charities decorating trees and you can go round and enjoy them.

What is one upmanship about answering the original question? Perhaps I’ve missed the point. We have a real one in the sitting room and a small artificial one in the hallway.

We had 2 real trees for many years, one in the front porch, another in the front room. I loved the whole sense of tradition of going to choose them, taking time to pick the " right" ones, fitting them in the car for the journey home, and finally decorating them.
2 years ago we changed to an artificial one for the porch, to save a bit of hassle, but I insisted on a real main tree. Last year we took the plunge, and after much discussion, bought a very realistic artificial one for the room. We didn't tell the ( adult ) children about the change, and when they came to visit, it was ages before either of them noticed the tree wasn't real! ( It was same size (7ft) in the usual place, with all our usual ornaments on! ).
I still prefer real trees, but these 2 are perfect for us now.

It’s nothing to do with affording or being showy or snobby.
I can’t believe a simple dilemma of real v. prelit should have occasioned critical comments!
For me it’s tied up with “doing” Christmas - do I admit that’s over? I actually did enjoy providing a happy Christmas time for our family, even if I was knackered for 90% of the time- that was what it was all about.
I couldn’t host the whole family in this house - we shall be 18 on Christmas Day and 22 on Boxing Day and as the “tinies” get less tiny, that makes a difference! And the girls’ houses are more spacious and I don’t want to be the sort of Mum figure who insists on doing things her way either.
If Paw was still here it would be different, even if it was just the two of us, but just me? Admitting that’s the way it is and is going to be, that’s hard.
But it’s hardly contentious!
Not as if I had asked whether you go for Angel/fairy/or a star on the top of your tree
(Star, me)

annesixty - I do realise others love them but I never have a poinsettia over Christmas. It's just not a shrub for me.

biglouis I have no idea but doubt he'd feel very differently about the growth (specific for harvesting) of a tree as he would the millions of poinsettia which are nearly all doomed , or flowers grown to be cut.

These living plants shrubs and flowers do spread joy though - which is important over this period... and I think he would approve of that!

Gundy I do not think there is any one upmandhip on this thread, it is personnel taste.

I love a real tree and that is where I choose to spend my money, I buy presents for my partner, adult children, and 3 Grandchildren and 1 partner.
I save my Sainsburys points all year and then double them for our Christmas food. I spend very little compared with some people. I do not show off or try to keep up with the Joneses, I do what makes me happy as to me Christmas is a magical time.

I cannot think about everyone else all the time otherwise I would not do anything. Posters write about lovely holidays, what they are doing to their houses, it's not a boast just what is going on on their lives.

I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas whatever they are choosing to do.

I wonder what Jesus would say about killing trees by chopping them off at the roots.

annsixty I somewhat agree with you - some of the posts are one-upsmanship more than anything else. And I do feel for those that would love to have a tree (any tree!), lights, ornaments this Christmas - but cannot afford it.

It’s not about space in your house, or doing what you want, can afford or prefer… of course “Christmas is in your heart” but many can’t even afford that when unfortunate circumstances over-take the spirit.

For those with limited resources I suggest what I wrote a couple days ago on GN:

If you are on a budget the one thing that will give you the mood and beauty is candles and pointsettia plants. Clip a few boughs🌲 (or buy some). Then turn on some music. It doesn’t take much.

Go natural. Christmas comes in all sizes.

Memories of pine needles falling from the tree right behind my chair before I was married ensured that thereafter I always had a fake tree, which of course have improved dramatically. We have for some years had two prelit imitation silver birch trees inside and one outside. Very few baubles needed but they include two going back to my childhood.

We used to have a real one outside and a pre-lit indoors. For the last few years, though, it's no tree at all - just a few decorations on the mantelpiece with some holly from the garden. When you get to the age of being invited (rather than frantically cooking for 20 odd family) you are free to do as little as you choose! No constant irritation of a cat and dog flying around chasing baubles - great. No Christmas shopping, just order things online. We give the kids money to buy presents for the grandkids and don't send even cards these days, either.

We bought an (unlit) fake one ten years ago or so, it's quite big and looks very realistic. Prior to this we were spending £50 or more every year.
I do miss the smell of a real pine, but this one looks good for the whole of Christmas and doesn't shed all its needles when we take it down.
I remember my mother had a silver tinsel one in the 50's, it was really pretty and had its own Christmassy smell for me as we'd never had a real one.

Had our first “fake” tree Christmas 2021. Since 1971 we’ve always had a real tree, but decided a couple of years ago to buy prelit fake. I still prefer a real tree but doubt we will ever buy one again. Too old for all the messing about now.

I had a pre lit tree that was very expensive but, on the day a family member said how lovely it looked, it stopped working. We’ve taken the light buds off and bought devs for it for this year. Never had a real tree. My Dad bought one for Mum ( who loved everything about Christmas) and she cried, was really sad for the tree.

My parents’ first Christmas in Scotland (well, Mum’s), she had come over from Germany to marry my father earlier that year) was in 1947 and Christmas trees were a rarity in their wee Scottish town.
So they set out well after dark, chopper in hand into the Forestry Commission woods around their house returning dragging their 6’ Christmas tree behind them! Mum was 6 months pregnant (with me) at that stage too, but could not face their first Weihnachten in her new home without her Tannenbaum 🌲

This is my 'tree' from the woods

I'll let you know if the children decide to speak to us again.

That made me laugh kittylester!

Another here for twig trees Casdon. We’ve had this one 20 years. Ideal - especially as (a) we downsized to this apartment 14 years ago and it fits nicely in our hall - and (b) we no longer host the family Christmas meal (a sneaky uptick for downsizing as we’ve passed the baton on to our youngest daughter and her husband 😁) so Christmas decorations here are on the minimalist side!

We always used to have a real tree. But that was ‘then’ and this is ‘now’.

Doing a major clean this week in preparation for starting to get Christmas decorations out I was amazed to clean a few pine needles from under a cupboard which must be from last years tree. What is strange though is that our real tree stood the other side of the lounge, however as always I will get another this year and must try and be more thorough with the January clean up!

I don't think anyone is being snobbish or trying one-up manship. If you have a big square room a small tree looks lost.
The year our tree fell and blocked the door we had a long narrow lounge terrible to arrange furniture in.
My pre-lit twig tree probably looked pathetic until I put a few decorations on it. It pleases me and DH and that's all that matters. If visitors don't like it or laugh, well they can put their own tree where they want it preferably where the sun don't shine.
We should all just please ourselves.
I actually wish I lived in a house with a huge open fire with a lintel and then I would prefer a Yule log that would burn for days to a German import I'm a bit pagan I have a lot of Viking DNA.

asda had some nice real potted trees in for £25 they were about 4-5ft and quite slim

we always get a real tree

Here is a cautionary tale: when we moved to this house over 40 yrs ago we dug up a tree 🎄 from a nearby grower and subsequently planted it out and several others .
Soon they grew too large to bring indoors and here they are now! The flats behind were built about 30 years ago so the trees didn't pose a problem but I don't think they are terribly popular now!

Sleepygran

I went feral a few years ago and bought a pink artificial tree which I still love so that will be up this year!

Thank you, lovely idea.

I just ordered pink for our back garden trees. Our GGDs will thank you. My husband is pleased (not) purchasing more pink tat.

One year we brought the tree in from the garden. It had been in its pot since last Christmas but it was looking good and bushy. Mother-in-law was due at midday on Christmas Eve and we just bought it in and decorated it fully, complete with lights just minutes before she arrived........and then the flies came.....and came.....and came.......We shoved it outside into the yard complete with tinsel and lights where it sat lopsided until well after Boxing Day. I've not had a real Christmas tree since. Last year in fact, we had a branch hanging from the newly plastered ceiling. It looked gorgeous trimmed with baubles and lights and anything that hung well. I remember my husband saying "you want hooks WHERE?" They are still there ready for this year's branch.

I think there have been some very superior and snobby posts on this thread which maybe need a little consideration for people’s circumstances.

I don't think anyone means to be snobby or superior. Some people have much more space than others for one thing - I have a four bedroom house but was having a giggle at the prospect of putting even a smallish tree in every room. I wouldn't be able to move without falling over a tree 😅 Others must have much more space in their rooms. Likewise a huge tree would fill one area of a room in my house, which would mean moving furniture about all over the place, so I'm more than happy to have a tree small enough to fit in my bay window area out of the way.

I went feral a few years ago and bought a pink artificial tree which I still love so that will be up this year!