Christmas Tree Shopping - Should You Buy a Real or Artificial Tree?

When shopping for a Christmas tree, there are many things to keep in mind. One of your first steps should be to decide whether you want a real tree or an artificial tree. Consider the information below to help you make the all-important decision about which tree you want to put in your home this year.

Are you even allowed to have a real tree?

Many leases for apartments, townhouses, and rental houses prohibit you from buying and putting up a real tree. The listed reason is usually due to the potential for a fire hazard or the perceived threat of fire. Not really sure how that makes sense, since an artificial tree could go up in flames if given the right circumstance, but still, it's generally best to follow the rules of the landlord if you want to renew your lease.

With a real tree:

There are certainly pros and cons of buying a real tree. Of course, the most obvious pros about buying a real tree are that it actually is a real Christmas tree and it will smell wonderfully of pine and sap.

However, with all of the wonderful reasons you can find to buy a real tree, there are also cons. If you want to pick one out yourself, you need to make sure that will work out positively for your family. If not, you will end up on a miserable day-long family excursion that will start mimicking the tree-cutting scene from Christmas Vacation.

Additionally, a real tree will take more work. Since it is real, you need to water it if you want it to live. And you can't save a real tree from year to year, so it's a one time purchase.

With an artificial tree:

The pros of buying an artificial tree are that an artificial tree is low maintenance and it will last for more than one year. The cons of buying an artificial tree are the sometimes very odd and faking looking limbs and pine needles and having to store the thing for the remaining 11 months of each year.

Of course, you could always buy one of the fiber optics trees that have become so popular and can be very cool.

Remember to keep in mind that some people are very insistent about buying a real or an artificial tree. Be respectful of their opinions, but don't feel like you have to do it one way or another just because someone else has always done it that way.