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Real or artificial? 🎄

debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
edited November 2021 in The potting shed
Hi all, I have a perfectly good artificial Christmas tree 🎄 that’s done me proud for about 5 years but this year I have a hankering for a real tree. Any idea on the environmental impact? 
I think it’s that pine smell I want and the “genuineness “ if that makes sense? 
I won’t be getting rid of the artificial tree. 
What do others on the forum do? 
«1345678

Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I personally go for green boughs around the mirror, bunches of berries and wreaths.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    I regard real trees as a crop which is planted, harvested and then another crop is planted. While it’s growing it is absorbing carbon and, provided it’s shredded and composted and not burned when it’s no longer needed, I think that is ‘a good thing’. 

    I would not buy a plastic tree because I don’t think we should use plastic if it’s avoidable … but if you have a plastic tree already then re-using it year after year is also ‘a good thing’. The problem will be deciding how to dispose of it when the time comes. 

    So my view is, if you want a real tree … go for it, enjoy it … nothing to feel guilty about.  🎄 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    In my area the council provides pick-up points and will take away and compost your old tree if you cannot deal with it yourself. I'm with @Dovefromabove on this one, you can't beat a real tree with plastic.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    A decent real tree will set you back getting on for £200,we had one for many years, Woolworths £70 this was in the 80s, price still on the box. We have a MTR tall white one,sits on the lounge table. Thinking about a real one,can't decide roots or sawn,any ideas? I see they are in the shops now, obviously I wouldn't bring it in,yet. The drop we solved,saw off the trunk a couple of inches,keep outside in a bucket of water,then it went on a stand with a reservoir to keep it hydrated, hardly any drop. I can't believe some of the folk,we see when walking the dogs,decs up mid November. So,do we buy a tree now,or risk there will be plenty in a couple of weeks?
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    edited November 2021
    That's expensive @Nanny Beach. There are big Nordman trees in a local GC for around £70. Did you mean "real" or should that be plastic?
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Oh yeah, sorry I did mean Not real,blame the dodgy hands!!
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    pansyface said:
    I’ve just found a photo of my parents’ tree and its baubles. It came from Woolies! 😁



    I love it! It's similar in a way to the minimalist wire and tinsel tree I've got, in that it doesn't try too hard to be realistic. I love the big lights too!
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    Real trees are only better for the environment if they are locally grown. It's true that they are a crop tree and often more are planted to replace what were cut but if they have to be shipped a fair distance then their carbon footprint shoots up massively.
    I don't know but would guess, cheaper supermarket trees probably have come from afar. 
     
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Happily, our trees are grown about eight miles down the road.
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    We drive to a local farm that specialises in growing trees every year - it has become something of a tradition.  We get a Nordmann tree as they keep their needles longer (provided we don't forget to water it!). A bit more expensive but this farm's prices are very reasonable.  Afterwards we chop it up and I use some of the smaller bits on the garden as a mulch and the rest goes in the green bin.  But there are a few places which will take them as animal feed.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
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