So right off the bat let’s get my bias out in the open, I have never been a fake Christmas tree household. I remember being little, living in New York, the state not the city, and going with my family to cut our own tree, bring it home, and decorate it while listening to Christmas music. So yes, I am a bit biased, but I am here giving out my comparison, what’s important to me, and which tree lives up to that.
Price:
Although my family is a bit out of the norm when it comes to Christmas tree size, I do not remember a Christmas where the cost of our tree wasn’t $150.00-$250.00. Now, like I said out of the norm, which is a price range for 12–15-foot Fraser fir trees. An average height, of maybe 6-8 feet would definitely be around $100.00, or possibly less depending on what type of tree you buy.
A fake tree that I looked up on Amazon, at 7.5 feet cost $438.99, and that is its price 40% off too. Now a good thing I will say is that, although it is a much bigger price tag, that fake tree will last you multiple years, whereas the real tree is a one-time investment.
Smell:
I absolutely adore sitting in my living room on a cozy December day with the fire on, and an airy pine smell wafting all around me. It is better than any Yankee candle, or Target candle scent, it’s real and it makes me feel like the holidays have truly started when the house smells like the Christmas tree.
While I have no personal experience here, I could only give an educated guess and say that the plastic tree does not smell like anything but plastic. Although the plastic itself may not smell, I am an avid proponent of Little Trees. They have great scents and last very long. Their pine scent is very good, and I believe it would be very easy to get a multipack and secretly hang them on the inside of the fake tree. It is an artificial scent, but it is better than the warm smell of plastic.
Upkeep:
When taking care of a real Christmas tree you need to remember to check its water often and give it tree food. I have seen the tree need more water three times a day, they are large, and all of those tiny pines and branches need lots of water to survive no longer being connected to the roots. Something else that needs to be taken care of is dropping needles. This is fortunately only an issue at the end of a real tree’s time, but once they start falling off, even breathing on the tree will cause them to fall, but nothing a broom can’t manage.
The only thing I can imagine for the upkeep of a fake tree is the dust and the storage. Plastic attracts dust like crazy, and all of those little pines have so much surface area great for the dust to sit and stay, and I cannot imagine that they are easy to clean at all. Not to mention the storage, most of them come in parts and should be stored in parts, but imagine the gross smell of moist cardboard and plastic hanging on your tree from the 11 months it spends in your basement or attic. Of course, I have no real experience, but I can only imagine.
Personally, I love real trees, it makes it truly feel and smell like the holiday season, and I can’t imagine being at my parent’s home without a real tree. However, I do recognize that when I start living on my own I will be purchasing a fake tree, it is much easier for small apartments, moving from place to place, and of course, it is much more cost-effective when I plan on using it for more than 5 years. Whichever tree you and or your family go with, I hope it makes you feel in the holiday spirit, and that it brings you joy to look at it.