Which Christmas tree to choose: artificial or real?

The Christmas tree is the main Christmas decoration that truly creates a festive atmosphere. Although the holiday seems to be far away, we decided to analyze in advance all the pros and cons of buying a live and artificial beauty for the home.

NATURAL TREE

Types of natural trees.

The most popular representatives of living coniferous plants that are found on the Russian market are three types of Christmas trees: spruce, pine and fir. Let’s consider them in more detail.

Spruce — a coniferous tree with sharp needles at the ends of the branches and along the entire trunk. Its main advantages are a soft, unobtrusive aroma of needles, low price and easy availability for purchase.

Such a tree is sold during the season of Christmas tree markets in any markets and hypermarkets.

The main disadvantages of spruce are its fragility and difficulty in care. The needles begin to crumble in 3-4 days. Without special vitamin solutions, the tree will quickly end up in the nearest landfill, not having time to please its owners.

Pine has the strongest aroma among its relatives. Soft, fluffy and very long needles crumble very weakly. At the same time, the cost of pine does not differ from the cost of spruce.

A coniferous tree will stand in an apartment for 2-3 weeks in perfect condition.

Fir — a representative of conifers, which is famous for its splendor and softness of needles. Unfortunately, fir has no smell. Compared to spruce and pine, its cost is much higher.

Fir needles do not crumble within 2-3 weeks, which affects its durability and ease of care.

Pros and cons of a living plant.

Pros:

1. The smell in the house. A live Christmas tree is a natural fragrance for your home. It will fill the room with a pleasant smell of pine needles, which will create an atmosphere of comfort.
2. Health benefits. It releases essential oils with bactericidal and antiviral properties, and also serves as a good prevention of bronchopulmonary diseases. Live Christmas tree in rare cases can cause allergies.
3. Environmental friendliness. Its disposal causes less harm to the environment.

Minuses:

1. Daily care. Living plants require special care. It is necessary to add special solutions, change the water in time so that the needles fall less.
2. Daily cleaning. Falling needles cause a lot of trouble with cleaning: you have to sweep or vacuum the floor so that the needles do not accidentally stick into the foot.
3. Dirt and germs. After 3-4 days, the living plant loses its beneficial properties and becomes a source of dirt and microbes. At the same time, according to experts, 70% of trees are infected with mold, which can negatively affect the health of people with weak immunity.
4. Single use. A living tree, depending on its type, will delight you with its original appearance for only 1-2 weeks, in rare cases up to 1 month with proper care, after which it will have to be disposed of.
5. Easy flammability. Wood can catch fire even from cheap garlands that heat the branches of a Christmas tree.
Choose high-quality Christmas decorations to protect your home from fire.

6. Instability. It is important to install a heavy living tree in a reliable stand, and not in a jar. Give preference to metal stands that will not let spruce fall from an accidental push.
7. Complicated transportation. If you decide to purchase a small Christmas tree, then there will be no difficulties with its transportation to the house. Tall and lush Christmas trees weigh a lot and do not fit in a passenger car — difficulties may arise during delivery to the house.

FAUX CHRISTMAS TREE.

Types of artificial Christmas trees.

Artificial Christmas trees are divided into 3 types (depending on the appearance of the needles): cast, cast+PVC, PVC. Each of them differs in production technology, which affects both the quality of products and their cost.

An artificial Christmas tree most often consists of a plastic or metal base, on which lush branches are attached. When purchasing such types of products in the kit, as a rule, a plastic stand is attached, which undoubtedly simplifies the process of assembling and installing the Christmas tree. However, in terms of strength and durability, it significantly loses to a metal stand.

Cast artificial Christmas tree.

It is made by casting according to a given shape from rubber. The needles are distinguished by their special realism, as close as possible to the real one. The branches of the Christmas tree withstand heavy decorations in the form of Christmas toys, do not bend.

Cast + PVC.

Combined version of an artificial Christmas tree. It consists partly of cast branches combined with fluffy PVC. PVC — polyvinyl chloride is also distinguished by its strength and durability. But at the cost of production costs, it is more budgetary, unlike a cast artificial Christmas tree.

PVC.

The most budget option are Christmas trees with branches made of PVC film. To the touch, the needles are quite pleasant and soft, but completely unrealistic. The main advantage of a budget Christmas tree is its safety: the child will not prick on fluffy needles.

Advantages of artificial Christmas trees

1. Easy care. The product made of artificial materials does not crumble. Often, when assembling a Christmas tree made of PVC film, several “needles” can fall off — it’s worth removing them from the floor once so that your house is in order.
2. Durability. Most often, the service life is 5 years or more. Be sure to carefully assemble and disassemble the Christmas tree to preserve the original appearance of the branches.
3. Convenient transportation and storage at home. All products are delivered packed in strong boxes, in which, after use, it is convenient to store the Christmas tree until the next holidays.
4. Fire resistant materials. More expensive products are usually covered with a special fireproof impregnation, which significantly reduces the risk of fires in the house during the holidays.
5. Sustainability. Artificial fir trees weigh little — the stand will hold the product, even if it is accidentally pushed by children or pets.
We advise you to choose products that come with reliable metal stands.

Disadvantages of artificial Christmas trees

1. High cost. The price of an artificial Christmas tree, unlike a live one, at first glance, may seem high. However, if you divide the cost of the product by the number of years of use, it turns out that you will save on this cost item.
2. There is no pleasant coniferous smell. An unpleasant smell of plastic can come from low-quality products, expensive ones do not smell of anything.

It is better to buy a natural Christmas tree on the eve of the holiday at specialized Christmas markets.

Choose an artificial Christmas tree in advance: the sale has already begun on the website www.wildberries.ru!