From Fir to Fabulously Fake: Tips to Choose the Perfect Christmas Tree
Whether you’re team real tree or artificial, this guide is packed with practical tips for choosing the best Christmas tree for your home, no matter the season of life you’re in. Learn the pros and cons of each- with some hilarious real life stories thrown in.
Listen to this on the Harbour Breeze Home Podcast!
What’s a “Perfect Christmas Tree” Anyway?
The first thing you may notice as you approach your first Christmas as a newlywed, is that you and your spouse may differ greatly on your definitions of the “perfect Christmas tree” – along with the TIMING of when to get and set up that “perfect tree”.
I can’t say that I had really strong opinions at first about the tree, but I certainly did about the timing.
You see, I had grown up in Montana with grandparents who were snowbirds. Every year, right after Thanksgiving, they’d pack up their giant Ford LTD and head to Texas to enjoy blue sky and sunshine instead of freezing cold and snowstorms.
So, Thanksgiving dinner (with all the amazing Thanksgiving side dishes) was immediately followed with Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa. There was ALWAYS a tree up by Thanksgiving, so that’s what I wanted our new family tradition to be.
The only problem? Did I mention I married a Canadian? And we live in Canada? Up here in these parts, Thanksgiving day is early October.
Early. October.
Of course we had only been married 2 short months when our first October together rolled around. In the spirit of being wildly “in love” and figuring out how to navigate this new world as newly marrieds, neither one of us wanted to dissapoint the other.
I wanted a tree by Canadian Thanksgiving. He wanted to chop a real tree down in the woods.
So, that’s what we did!
I had never in my live long days chopped down a tree right in the wilds of the woods (This was NOT a Christmas tree farm, y’all – It was just the woods!!) I remember that part being a great adventure. Tromping around in the snow (that we had permission to be in and cut a tree), choosing a tree, chopping it down, and dragging it to our car to strap it on top felt like a scene straight from a sappy Hallmark Christmas movie.
But, of course, it went downhill from there!
I remember that tree was the source of our very first, very large disagreement. I wanted white lights. He wanted colored. It caused trouble. There were tears. There was compromise.
And by the time Christmas rolled around, that Christmas tree was so dry with needles dropping daily that we never made the same mistake again.
So with that preamble, here’s all the lessons we’ve learned in the real Christmas tree department.
Tips for Choosing & Using a Real Christmas Tree
Disclosure: The following post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience.
Along with the Christmas tree tips and tricks, I’ve included pictures and links to our Christmas trees in the past. As you will see, the photo size requirments have changed over the years, so my early tree pictures look kind of sad – but the memories are pretty fun! I thought you might like to read them. Just click on the buttons beside the pictures to go to the original posts – where you’ll find a variety of Christmas tree decorating ideas.
01
Choose the Right Kind of Tree
Since my husband is a pro at identifying trees, he was in his element at this part! You are going to want to choose a fir or pine tree. Under NO circumstances should you try to use a hemlock tree. It will lose it’s needles nearly immediately.
02
Measure Your Space & Secure Tree Well
Before you purchase a real tree, measure the space you’re going to place it & choose one that fits. When setting it up, tie the tree to the ceiling and/or wall to secure it. Ask us how we know…
03
Watering is Key
Get yourself a really good tree stand (like this one) that holds water and make sure there is water in it every day! Move the tree away from any heat sources that would dry it out, too.
Other tips when choosing a real Christmas tree:
- Look for a tree with bright green needles – which indicates it is a fresh tree.
- If you buy a tree that has already been cut previously, cut the trunk fresh when you get home so it absorbs water well.
- Keep in mind fire safety when you have a real tree. Make sure the lights you put on it don’t get too hot and keep it away from heat sources – like wood stoves, fireplaces, etc… that make it dry out faster, too. Have a fire extinguisher ready and handy in case something goes wrong.
- Think about how you are going to dispose of your tree after you use it. Look around for recycling programs in your area. And, did you know, goats love Christmas trees??
Real or Faux Christmas Trees & Your Season of Life
A real Christmas tree was part of our family tradition for 24 years. Sometimes my husband would take the boys out to the woods to chop them down. If we didn’t have the energy for that, we would pick up a real tree when they arrived at our local grocery store.
If you love real Christmas trees and you’re in a season of life that that is important to you, go for it! Now that I’ve experienced a fake tree, I do think that real trees are a whole lot more work in every way. But, some would argue that it is worth it!
I leave that up to you to decide.,;)
When we moved into our current townhouse, we are in a strata situation that doesn’t allow real trees for fire safety reasons. So, at that point, we entered our “faux tree” era.
And, can I just say, I’m a fan!;)
Tips for Choosing a Faux Christmas Tree
I’ll be honest, we didn’t spend a lot of time researching before we bought our first faux Christmas tree. We just kept our eye open for sales and bought the least expensive one we could find!;) Now, it’s 8 years later and I have no regrets with our humble little tree.
Here are some things to consider when choosing & using a faux Christmas tree.
01
Choose a spot to put it and measure before shopping
Just like a real tree, you’ll want to preface your shopping with figuring out the dimensions you need. You don’t want to come home with a tree only to find it’s too tall for your space!
02
Decide if you want a pre-lit tree or not
One of the big decisions you’ll need to make is whether you want a tree with built in lights or not. The pro is that the lights are built right in (yay!). The con is that I’ve heard that eventually they may stop working (booo). Ours is not pre-lit.
03
You can set a short tree on a wooden box to make it appear higher
One year I wanted to put the tree in a different spot and it needed to be higher. So, I set it on a wooden box and covered it with a big blanket. The bonus is that it made lots of room in our small place to stack presents!
More Tips for Choosing Faux Trees
Do you have a fun or funny Christmas tree story or memory?
If so, I would absolutely love to hear it! Just put it in the comments below this post. I’m looking forward to reading them already!
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I loved the Hallmark-style nature tree-chopping moment and the honest account of the debate between white lights and colored lights—so real!
I ordered a big artificial tree in 2005. On Dec. 5th I received a call that my husband had a massive heart attack while hunting in another state. My daughter and I drove all night to be with him. While I was gone my niece unboxed the tree and decorated it before we got home. What a special gift that was!❤️
Oh, wow! What a story, and what a thoughtful idea your friend had. Thank you so much for sharing.