It has always been a big debate. In your home for the Christmas holiday, do you want a ‘real’ tree or a ‘fake’ tree?

A real Christmas tree has some irreplaceable (at least to some) qualities. The scent of a real Christmas tree is woodsy, and for most, immediately brings the thought of Christmas and the winter season. The scent is produced from a coniferous tree’s resin, which is a syrupy liquid which pines, spruces, and firs can make. Coniferous (Christmas trees) trees produce a larger amount of resin than other kinds of trees. This scent cannot be exactly replicated in many personal opinions, and therefore is a reason why many get a real tree.

The experience of picking a real Christmas tree from a lot is a well practiced family tradition in many families. The experience of choosing the perfect tree brings you back to past times when you have also picked a real tree, creating many family memories.

Yet, when getting a fake Christmas tree, it is in the larger picture less expensive. A real tree is about $50-$100, and a fake tree is about $100-$300. However, you would get a real tree every year, and you would get an artificial tree about every 5-7 years.

Also, when getting a faux tree, you no longer have to deal with the many issues that come with a real tree. Watering the tree, needles falling off, the tree drying out, and heavy family heirloom ornaments falling off the tree’s limbs, and breaking, are no longer your problem.

In the past six years, my own family has had four consecutive years of putting up a real Christmas tree, and in the following two years we have displayed an artificial tree. This year, we were having a dilemma deciding which to put up, and after weighing the pros and cons, we put up a fake tree and a real tree. No matter which type of tree you decide to display in your home this year, you will still have the pleasure of putting up the tree, decorating it, and spending time with your family.

So to this question, “Which is better, a ‘real’ tree or ‘fake’ tree?”, there really is no right or wrong answer, as it all depends on your hopes, and your own family traditions, for the Christmas season.