Christmas trees... fake vs. real?

[fried1765]

Somebody mentioned white spruce... what we call that tree here smells like cat pee when you bring it into the house. Hence one of the nicknames for it is "cat spruce".

They sure do have a miserable stink!

 

[fried1765]

Real tree for us, every year. Growing up in AZ, and until we moved up here to ND, we used to get a tree permit from USFS and cut one from one of the national forests in northern AZ. The trip to get the tree was part of our family tradition. Spend the day playing in the snow, roast marshmallows and hot dogs over a fire, cut down a tree and head back home. Many fond memories of doing that as a kid. Our kids seemed to have enjoyed the whole thing as well.

Now up here, we just buy one, most years we've gotten good trees from Lowe's (surprisingly), they've been pretty fresh, and stayed alive through New Years. This year, we just (yesterday) bought one from the Costco (just opened) in town. It was $20, for a 7 foot tree. We'll see how it lasts, doesn't seem as fresh but hey, it's 20 bucks.

Live tree for us.

I'll bet it is kinda hard to find a live tree to cut in Bismark/Mandan.

 

[k0ua]

Fake tabletop trees here. Use to have a huge "fake" tree we called the deadman. Just hauling it out in its bag was a huge chore. We gave it away. Of course in the past we have real trees, A lot of mess to clean up, and getting the needles out of the carpet was a chore. Sometimes you never got them all. So small and "fake" here.

 

[fried1765]

...... everything is fake these days.

Fake fur, fake news, fake boobs, fake trees,......

 

[Maxify55]

We’ve done all the tree cutting & trimming for 40+ yrs. As each of the children left home we gave them a choice of 10 ornaments.
As the last child left, so did the last of the trimmings. It is now time for each of them, in their own homes, to make their OWN Christmas traditions. Seeded by the ornaments of their childhood.
Our tree is now 24” high & lives in a box. Trimmed to the 9s with everything needed to suit even the most critical elitists.
On New Years Day it goes back into its’ box till next year.

 

[grsthegreat]

about 6 years ago we switched from live to fake tree. Costco had a great deal on a 9' prelit tree. since the tree is on same wall as fireplace, at least we can use fireplace when tree is up, whereas before i didnt dare do it.

this tree shows either all white lights, or colored lights. have no issues with it being fake. i live in 20 acres of trees if i want the smell.

 

[ultrarunner]

Average tree price in SF will set you back $120 +/- including 10% sales tax.

Have not had a tree for 7 years... maybe related to working around the tree farm and no visitors during the holidays to Mom's house... Christmas spent elsewhere since Dad passed in 2000... as the family grows no one nearby here in Oakland.

 

[MossRoad]

We usually cut one down 2 weeks before Christmas and keep it up until Epiphany. For anyone that's counting, Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, is 12 days after Christmas.

 

[MossRoad]

We also have a family contest to see who can spot the first discarded Christmas tree by the curb after Christmas. The past couple years has been 5-6 days, but we've seen them out the next day in some years.

 

[Jstpssng]

We also have a family contest to see who can spot the first discarded Christmas tree by the curb after Christmas. The past couple years has been 5-6 days, but we've seen them out the next day in some years.

We used to live on a main artery to the landfill. We would still be opening presents when the first cars went by the house with trees on.