Are real trees better than fake?

The Christmas tree is the epicentre of the festive decorations, but do you go natural or faux? Two fans of each say why they prefer man-made or forest grown

If it was real it’d start losing its needles, going brown and I’d be constantly cleaning underneath it. I don’t want my tree to look half dead by 25 December

YES

‘I love the smell and the ambience; it gives your home a lovely feeling’

Lisa Smith lives with husband Stu and their three children in Wolverhampton, and choosing a real tree is a Christmas tradition.

‘I don’t really like artificial trees. I love the smell of a real one and the whole ambience of it; it just gives your home such a lovely feeling. We don’t buy it until mid-december so it will last through until the New Year, and we’ll get a door wreath at the same time. We get the kind of tree that doesn’t drop its needles.

‘The kids start asking in November when we are going to get it. It is a big family affair. We all put our wellies on and go down to Langley Hall Farm and pick one. Last year it snowed and the children were having snowball fights. Sometimes we’ll put them through the tree-netting tube, too! We see lots of other people we know choosing theirs. And a tree is planted for each one cut, which is good for the environment as they absorb harmful gases and release oxygen. I bought a potted one once and put it in the garden afterwards – it’s 12-foot tall now. This year, I am putting lights on that, too.

We put the tree in the bay window so it can be seen from outside, and decorating it is a family tradition. The tree stays up until New Year’s Day, and when it’s been taken out for recycling, I’ll light scented candles instead.

‘When I was young, we had real trees and I have such memories of those. To me, it smells like Christmas.’

NO

‘For me, a natural tree is never perfect. There are big gaps. I need symmetry’

Blogger Kimberly Duran (swoonworthy.co.uk) shares a home in Shrewsbury with partner Wayne, a dog and two cats.

‘Ever since I’ve started putting trees up in my home, they’ve been fake. We have a seven-foot artificial tree that is flocked and pre-lit. No one is going to think it’s snowed in my house, but it looks so pretty and really makes the baubles stand out.

‘We don’t have kids so there isn’t the ritual of finding a tree and decorating it as a family. My partner knows to stay away as I want it to look how I want it. Remember Monica from Friends when she let them decorate the tree and then she turned it around and it was perfectly decorated? That is how I am. For me, a natural tree is never perfect. There are big gaps. I need symmetry because I want it to look Monica perfect.

‘One of the reasons I like artificial is that there’s so much less mess. I get the tree up by the first of December. If it was real, it’d start losing its needles, going a bit brown and I’d be constantly cleaning underneath it. I don’t want my tree to look half dead by 25 December.

‘I had my previous tree for eight years, and the one I’ve got now for four years; economically, artificial makes sense. If you buy a good one, they last quite a long time. I’ve got cats who climb up inside of it and it’s still going strong.

‘It’s also one thing less for me to think about. I don’t need the hassle of going out and buying one. I get it down from the loft and it’s ticked off my list. And I’ve seen pictures where they’ve taken the real tree out at the end of the holidays and have a rug of needles on the floor all the way to the door. I am so glad I don’t have to do that!’