The question comes back every year: artificial tree or real tree at Christmas? Both have their own charm, but once you weigh up practicality, durability, convenience and longer term cost, a good artificial tree is a very strong alternative.
Especially because our Christmas habits have changed. Many people no longer put the tree up on 24 December but want to decorate weeks earlier, so they can enjoy the festive mood for longer.
And that is where an artificial tree has a serious advantage.
A real tree: beautiful, but sensitive to time
For many people the scent and the naturalness of a real tree are part of Christmas. A good Nordmann fir or spruce really does create a special atmosphere.
But it has one important drawback: when it comes into the home matters.
Put a real tree up in a heated home at the beginning of December, or two to three weeks before Christmas, and by 24 December it may well look worse than it did on day one.
Warm air, heating and lower humidity take their toll. Some varieties drop their needles faster, others hold on longer, but none stays completely unchanged for weeks.
An artificial tree goes up whenever you like
One of the biggest advantages of an artificial tree is that you do not have to work around it.
If you want to decorate on the first weekend of December, you can. If you want the Christmas mood at home from the end of November, that is no problem either.
On 24 December the tree looks exactly as it did on the day you put it up.
That matters more than it used to, because many of us want to enjoy the decoration for longer than a few days.
Christmas Day is busy enough as it is
In many families, 24 December is not exactly a day of rest.
Cooking, baking, laying the table, presents, preparations, children, guests: a great many tasks land on a single day.
If on top of that you also have to, on the same day:
- buy a tree or bring it home,
- trim it to fit the stand,
- set it up so it stands firm,
- clean up afterwards,
- and only then decorate it,
it easily becomes another source of stress.
An artificial tree, by contrast, can go up and be decorated weeks in advance. On Christmas Day all that is left is to enjoy it.
No constant vacuuming of needles
This is probably the least romantic argument, and the most practical one.
Under a real tree the fallen needles pile up over time. They work into the carpet, under the sofa, among the children's toys, and one still turns up weeks after the tree has gone.
With a good artificial tree this simply does not happen.
You do not have to vacuum around the tree every day, and when you pack it away it does not leave half the living room covered in needles.
An artificial tree looks the same every year
A real tree is never quite regular. That is part of its beauty, but it also means there is always some uncertainty when you buy one.
How full will it be? Will the top be straight? Will there be a thin side? Will it look right in the spot you had in mind?
With a well chosen artificial tree you know exactly what you are getting.
Once it is assembled and the branches are shaped, you get the same full, even form year after year, and you know in advance how it will fit in the room.
Artificial or real: which costs more?
The first time round, a quality artificial tree is of course a bigger outlay than a single real tree.
The difference is that a real tree has to be bought again every year, while a good artificial one lasts for many years.
If someone spends 50 to 80 euros a year on a real tree, for example, the total adds up to a serious amount within a few years.
A durable artificial tree, by contrast, is a one off investment whose cost per year falls with every season you use it.
That is why comparing only the first year is misleading.
Storage is the trade off
An artificial tree has its downside too.
It has to be stored for most of the year, so you need space in the loft, the cellar, the garage or a larger storage room.
The bigger and fuller the tree, the bigger the box it packs into.
So before buying, check the box dimensions as well as the height of the assembled tree.
And what about the scent of a real tree?
This is the one thing an artificial tree cannot fully reproduce.
If Christmas is unimaginable to you without that scent, it is a genuine argument for a real tree.
Even so, you do not have to give it up entirely. A few real fir branches in a vase or in an Advent arrangement already fill a room with a pleasant, natural scent.
That way you keep the scent and a natural touch, while the tree itself is the more practical artificial one.
Artificial or real, in short
Advantages of a real tree:
- natural,
- the real scent of fir,
- slightly different every year,
- the classic Christmas experience.
Advantages of an artificial tree:
- can go up weeks before Christmas,
- still looks just as good at Christmas,
- does not shed needles all the time,
- means less cleaning,
- gives you the same shape every year,
- no need to buy a new tree each year,
- can work out cheaper in the long run,
- and you decorate it whenever it suits you.
Which one should you choose?
If the scent and the tradition of a living tree matter most to you, a real tree is still a beautiful choice.
But if you want to decorate weeks in advance, would rather not vacuum needles every day, and want 24 December to be about family, cooking and the celebration, a quality artificial tree is a very comfortable answer.
And today's lifelike artificial trees are on a completely different level from the plain old versions.
A well chosen tree is not for one Christmas: it becomes part of the festive home year after year.