I'm going to buy an xmas tree tomorrow and I want a nice looking artificial one, but my wife thinks they all look like crap and wants a real one, which I'd like to avoid at all costs because of the crazy mess they (real ones) make.

Does anyone know where I can find some really nice/realistic looking fake trees? My mom and dad have one that looks incredible, but she bought it at a store that went out of business a few years ago and she doesn't know who makes it, etc.


We're looking for around 6'5" +/- a couple inches.


Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

dont you want a tree taller than you are? ha-ha

you get what you pay for trust me!!!! pre lit trees are very nice!

 

Not the person to talk to you about this, but I have always been a fan of real trees. Yes, they make a mess, but you know, that is what a vacuum once a week will cost you. Besides, it takes about 2 minutes to take care of the needles. They look nicer, they feel nicer, and they give you a nice fuzzy feeling inside when you wake up to one every morning.

And I'm not talking about fake *****.

I did grow up in the Santa Cruz Mountains where would traditionally walk to the neighborhood christmas tree farm, cut it down and walk with it back up the road like our prized catch over our shoulders.

 

i got my fake one at target and it looks pretty good

 

If you get a fake one you are going half to store it all year. Also, real ones are not too messy if you keep them watered, most come with a water tray. Also, i would wait a week if you get a new one since they really go down hill after 4 weeks.

 

Depends what your looking for, and where you are shopping at... If you are shopping at Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. you are pretty much going to get a crappy quality tree... What you really want to be looking at when you buy an artificial tree is the weight, how many branches, how many lights, and what type of product is used for the branches. If you want a really nice tree, it should be really heavy, full of lights, and branches.... Im not sure of a store around you that may sell trees like this, but you will not find a realistic artificial tree just anywhere. I work at a place called Keller's, its a home decor store that is well known for its Christmas gallery located in Modesto, and they sell some amazing looking artificial tree's... expensive, but very real looking... Tomorrow (today) at work i can find out where a shop near you might carry something similar.. hope this helps somewhat...

 

There are a couple at sears that have the "real look" but it really depends like blue04wrx. also depends if your looking for a skinny or wide tree. Like the real ones, fake ones come in all different sizes and shapes where ever you go. GE and Trim a Home make good trees and even have trees in the Greenish Frost look too if you like the outdoorsy type look. LEDS on trees are really coming into play but IMO the way the lights are ugly due to they are HUGE compared to the others but the light they emit is really nice. but who knows that might be something you like.

But if your wife really likes the Real Tree you could always just get a Extra Wide skirt for it so most of it is on the skirt and not your floor.

 

all i can say is, quality artificial tree can last you 15+ years of christmases and yea they take up lots of space to store. had a real tree once, annoyed the fact that we had to vacuum/sweep around the tree once a week, but it does feel more...christmasy? to each their own i suppose

 

Honestly, I say go with a real one.

My family has a 2 decade old artificial one that requires assembly, and it's always one big hassle. It still drops those artificial leaves/needles and you still have to clean them up. Then it's even more tedious to compact it back into a box and store it.

But if that's not enough to convince you, just look at some reviews on artificial trees. You don't want one that's tedious to assemble/disassemble, and you don't want one that drops leaves like a real one.

 

I just got my real one. Loaded it up on the roof racks and brought it home. Looks great, and smells great. I dunno how compact fake trees are these days but my mom had one that came in a massive box. That thing was huge. We had 2 garages so storage was a non-issue there, but I can't imagine storing something that big myself for 10 months out of the year.

We used to have a big cloth that went under the real tree, so the needles would just hit that. I've had pretty good luck with using a water stand. The needles don't come off that much then.

 

Damn you guys and your rational! Looks like we're getting a real tree. I didn't think it through and you guys are right, storing it for a year every year is going to be a *****. We have an attic and a storage shed, but I'd still rather not have to store it.

So you guys think it's too early to buy a tree? You think it'll dry out before Xmas? Should we wait a week or two? We don't want some specialty tree, just something about 6-6'5" and full. We have our own lights and decorations so if we got a fake tree it would be one that is just a tree, preferably one that can be taken apart piece by piece so it could be stored easier, but that sounds like a pain in the butt.

How do you dispose of your real tree after Xmas? Will the garbage men take it as is? Do you have to cut it up? This is our first real Xmas tree together so we're n00bs (last year we just had a small rosemary tree that we decorated since our place was small, but now we have a house and want to do it properly).


Thanks for the advice everyone, I appreciate it greatly.


PS: Don't forget my question: Is it too early to buy a tree? Will it dry out by xmas?

 

We bought a real tree last year and honestly with our busy schedules and always running around, it wasn't worth it to us. We bought a fake douglas fur tree this year from walmart, it was pretty cheap. After the 3 sections click into place, you can bend all of the branches to make it look more full and hide any wires from the pre-lit lights. After about 20-30 minutes of setup, which it will take you that long with a real tree getting the stand setup on the tree so the tree stands straight, watering it, and putting the lights on after, it really isnt that bad at all. The box it came in is about 4ft x 1ft x 1ft and the tree is a 7' tree. Im just going to either put it up in our master closet since its walkin or put a shelf up in the garage up high just for the tree box.

 

i would wait at least a week or maybe two. Just watch your local tree lots on how fast they are selling them to make sure you can still get one of the ones you like. Most Recycle/Garbage companies wil notify you on when to throw your tree out so they can pick it up, or at least mine does. if yours does not you can always chop it up and put it in your green recycling if you have one.