Had to go by the hardware store today, and there were Xmas trees for sale . . .

[hatrack]

$114.95 for a 7-footer.

Damn . . .

[rsdsharp]

1. Real or fake? At that price, I hope it's fake.

[hatrack]

5. Real - don't know why I should be surprised - seasonal pricing and all that . . .

[rsdsharp]

13. Ouch. It's been more than twenty years since we bought a real tree.

I think we were paying $40-50 back then.

[haele]

2. Check the Christmas Tree farms- the you-cut-em if you have one

You can typically find a decent live tree at a good cost, just bring a couple sturdy teens and a saw. Or wait until the morning of Christmas Eve, when whatever is left is half-price.
This year we pre - ordered a natural Nobel Fir from one of those places because the cut yourself trees were pine (pine = needles galore on the floor...); $78 + tax for a 6-7 ft tree tree that actually ended up around 7 1/2 ft. A few small gaps near the top, and a bit uneven in shape with some branches sticking way out at little kid level, but it's a nice tree with good package clearance that shows off the ornaments and fits nicely in the corner with just a bit of branch trimming.

Haele

[hatrack]

6. Three indoor cats, so that's . . .unlikely

Between broken ornaments and potential electrocution risks from chewed wires, a 60s-era Shiny Brite tree with the rotating color wheel is looking better and better.

[haele]

14. We have three cats...

And they actively avoid the tree. They don't seem to like the idea of sap on their fur.
I have one who is still fascinated by anything similar to a pipe cleaner. Which included fake Christmas trees...she destroyed two before we went to natural trees.

Good luck with a tree.

Haele

[OldBaldy1701E]

15. 'Tell me you have a cat...'

https://i.postimg.cc/66jmfcYB/temp-Image-Yewv-Nw.avif

[applegrove]

3. Was a guy who had a christmas tree lot I forgot where.

He would open for Christmas in Ontario. Then he would go to Florida for the winter. It was a good living back in the day.

[Marthe48]

4. I'm going to with my family in a bit to get a live tree

for them. I'm just along for the ride I haven't bought a real tree for years.

[surfered]

7. $149 here at a local nursery.

[Nictuku]

8. My 80 year old mom loves the Silver Point type of trees

I just absolutely HATE watching a tree die in our living room. Year after year, then multiply that by millions. To me, it is just gross, wasteful, and horrible. I would rather see it growing somewhere.

4 years ago, I think a little 5 ft tree (we put it up on a table), was over $150 here on the west coast. Probably because it is Napa, and EVERYTHING is overpriced. I guess they think we are all winery owners or something....

So I was so proud of my mom when she decided to buy a fake tree. The ones they make these days look incredibly real! And she got the Silver Point type that she likes (because there is a big gap between branches, and makes for better hanging of the ornaments). It is all about the ornaments for my mom. Hundreds of hand-crafted eggs. Chicken eggs, Duck eggs, Ostrich Eggs (too big for the tree, but she has a large display of them from the eggs she got when she lived on an Ostrich Farm ... I digress), back when Leggo Eggs were popular, she has a few made from them as well. There are even hand made ornaments from my Great grandmother on the tree. Each and every one is a Treasure for her.

Me, I'm more like the Grinch, in that I am NOT Christian, no kids or grandkids, so I don't celebrate the religious aspect of xmas, and I HATE how commercial it all is. Money Money Money. I find that kind of gross too.

But these things make my mom happy, and so I go along with it all.

Anyway, I used to dislike the fake trees, now I really like them and what they represent (decorating Christmas trees is actually more a pagan ritual than anything to do with Jesus). Heck, if Christians actually followed the teachings of Jesus, I might have become one. Who knows?

[applegrove]

9. I was talking with someone who bought a Christmas tree

farm, not to farm but to use it as a ski chalet. The problem was when the snow gets deep around the trees there are big holes that a child could fall into and not be able to get out of. So her kids were not allowed to play near the trees. It was a big worry.

[Nictuku]

11. I know exactly what you are talking about

I lost a ski down one of those holes once! Someone had to hold me by my feet while I used the ski-pole to snag the ski to retrieve it.

[applegrove]

12. Yikes.

[hatrack]

17. NARSID - my favorite obscure acronym!!

Non Avalanche-Related Snow Immersion Death.

This means falling head-down into what's called a tree well - a kind of snow pit surrounding a tree trunk that reaches feet below the surface of the snow - and then suffocating.

[applegrove]

18. That's it. Scary.

[FirstLight]

10. We usually get a $10 permit from the usfs...

we're helping keep the forest healthy by thinning and it's a fun adventure...

This year, they paused the program in our direct local forest, so we'll have to go to Truckee if we still wanna do it. I have a couple fake ones just in case...but I really love the smell

[hatrack]

16. Something similar locally - red cedars

They're native, but we're in prairie, and the problem is that prairie fires don't burn like they once did (too many houses and streets and businesses and such).

So, even a non-invasive gets invasive, because it's never knocked back as Nature once did, and glades and meadows turn to cedar thickets.

Accordingly, a local environmental organization has hosted cedar Christmas tree events - grab a saw, head out and cut and then make a donation. Kinda cool!