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Real or Artificial Christmas Trees
from: Kyle BesserA Christmas tree is one of the most popular traditions associated with the celebration of Christmas. At Christmas time people buy a Christmas tree, take it home, put it up in their house and decorate it with lights and colourful ornaments. If it is a natural tree, it will be an evergreen coniferous tree.
It use to be that a Christmas tree would not have been set up in the home and decorated until Christmas Eve and removed on January 6, which is the day after the twelfth night. Having a tree up before or after these dates was considered bad luck. Now that Christmas has become so commercialized, people put their Christmas trees up much earlier.
In American it is commom for many people to set up their Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving. In stores Christmas trees are displayed as early as late October. In Europe Christmas trees are not put up until at least the middle of December.
Both live and artificial trees are used for Christmas trees. The best natural tree to use as a Christmas tree is a species of fir (Abies). The major benefit of a fir is that they do not shed their needles when they dry out like some evergreens. Firs also have good foliage color and a pleasant scent. There are many species that are used, but they are less common.
Some trees are sold alive with their roots in soil in some type of container. These living Christmas trees are used for a Christmas tree and later planted outdoors. These living Christmas trees often don't survive. The root loss from digging and the higher temperatures and low humidity of the indoors is very detrimental to the health of the live tree. If you do get a living Christmas tree, it is recommended you only keep the tree inside for a few days because the warmth will bring the tree out of dormancy, and it may not survive when you place it outside in the midwinter cold.
In Europe, people traditionally prefer naturally grown, unsheared trees. In North America many people prefer close-sheared trees with much denser foliage. Denser foliage leaves less space for hanging decorations. In the past, Christmas trees were often harvested from wild forests, but now most are commercially grown on Christmas tree farms.
In the United States almost all Christmas trees are grown by Christmas tree farming. On Christmas tree farms, the trees are cut after about ten years of growth and new trees are planted to replace them.
Artificial Christmas trees are considered more convenient for many. If an artificial Christmas tree is used several years, they are less expensive than live Christmas trees. Artificial Christmas trees come in different colors and species and may also come pre-decorated with lights. When the Christmas season is over, artificial Christmas trees can be taken down and stored away until the next year.
Many people choose artificial Christmas trees rather than natural live Christmas trees because of the potential fire risk from a dried out real tree. Real trees that have dried out also can be very messy to take down. People who have an allergy to certain trees will also choose artificial Christmas trees.
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