definitely getting a live tree from a tree farm. I find it simply magical that I can have a tree in my house and that I can connect with my earliest memories through the ornaments I place on it. A kind of druidic festival for me as my holiest day is the winter solstice and I need a tree to feel the force of the mystery the solstice represents.
We always had artificial Christmas trees when I was growing up. I continued with that tradition when I got married mostly because I was the one who did most of the decorating. My husband was given a real tree one year so we gave it a try. I had quite a few heavy ornaments that I called branch sitters. They needed to be put where they were hooked on one branch & sat on the branch below it. These ornaments were not working well on the real tree & I was getting frustrated by my attempts to decorate the tree. It was taking much longer than it should in my opinion. The real tree was in our house for about a week when I began to have migraine symptoms that plagued me even when I was in another room & then it got to the point that I was bedridden from the symptoms I was experiencing. My husband took the tree out of the house. I was better several days later. I still don’t know exactly why this happened to me. My best guess is that the water the tree was sitting in triggered my mold allergies & brought on the migraines. Go figure!
I bypass the indoor tree. go to nursery etc after Christmas and collect some unsold trees free. I then chop off branches to lay on my flower beds for some cover in winter- give plants & bugs some temperature moderation. In spring easy to remove!!! Also makes beds look a little neater!
Actually, our artificial tree is iron. As in, all metal. It's like a metal tree skeleton! It takes up much less storage space, and has a cool "artsy" vibe. Drawback is from years of real trees, we have loads of decorations. We've been slowly divesting of those, but it's not easy after 25 years accumulation.
Christmas Tree's - Artificial, Tree Farm Cut or Living to be planted and grow! Being allergic to Pine, I have had an artificial for last 50 years. The artificial trees can be recycled as they are mostly metal with a plastic coat paper to act as needles on most. A lot of people like the smell, fullness and height of the fresh cut and the landfills usually grind and mulch them here where I live. Some people also find that Goat farmers want them for feed and goat farmers here locally were actually advertising for them last year! Others sink them in lakes and ponds as aquatic fish structure, but bottom line is they don't have to be landfill trash or burnt. Twenty years ago after Christmas, we purchased 24 Norwegian Spruce from a Farm Market after Christmas for $10 each, stored them surrounded by straw bales for balance of Winter and they border one side of my property today. The movements to not mow your grass for month of May this year and now put your leaves around your flower beds, garden beds and or leave on your lawn really is confusing. Oak leaves being acidic, mixed with Maple leaves that seem to be twice as abundant as oaks, mixed with chokecherry, mulberry, osage orange and walnut seems like a mix that no plant would want a part of. Couple that with all the different diseases and bugs that are already attached to the leaves not to mention weed or grass seeds, and I don't think I want the mess landing in my garden or flower beds creating a harmful mess. Good home made compost is a 2 year build to third year use process and most people purchase additives and starters to make it, but in the end they have an unknown NPK and Unbalanced PH that could be both helpful or hindering to their flowers or vegetables. I don't take my leaves to the dump nor burn them to pollute the air, but they do get ground up and mulched in the field next door. I will say that the grass where they are mulched is not the best growing patch in the field which makes you wonder whether leaves actually are a healthy additive or an unhealthy hindrance!
definitely getting a live tree from a tree farm. I find it simply magical that I can have a tree in my house and that I can connect with my earliest memories through the ornaments I place on it. A kind of druidic festival for me as my holiest day is the winter solstice and I need a tree to feel the force of the mystery the solstice represents.
We always had artificial Christmas trees when I was growing up. I continued with that tradition when I got married mostly because I was the one who did most of the decorating. My husband was given a real tree one year so we gave it a try. I had quite a few heavy ornaments that I called branch sitters. They needed to be put where they were hooked on one branch & sat on the branch below it. These ornaments were not working well on the real tree & I was getting frustrated by my attempts to decorate the tree. It was taking much longer than it should in my opinion. The real tree was in our house for about a week when I began to have migraine symptoms that plagued me even when I was in another room & then it got to the point that I was bedridden from the symptoms I was experiencing. My husband took the tree out of the house. I was better several days later. I still don’t know exactly why this happened to me. My best guess is that the water the tree was sitting in triggered my mold allergies & brought on the migraines. Go figure!
I’ve always had branch sitters, too! I just didn’t think to name them LOL — I love it!
My mother had a sensitivity to evergreen scents (we never used pine-scented cleaners or had a real tree). Maybe that’s what happened to you.
I bypass the indoor tree. go to nursery etc after Christmas and collect some unsold trees free. I then chop off branches to lay on my flower beds for some cover in winter- give plants & bugs some temperature moderation. In spring easy to remove!!! Also makes beds look a little neater!
Hi, Kathy! What a great idea!
Actually, our artificial tree is iron. As in, all metal. It's like a metal tree skeleton! It takes up much less storage space, and has a cool "artsy" vibe. Drawback is from years of real trees, we have loads of decorations. We've been slowly divesting of those, but it's not easy after 25 years accumulation.
I’d love to see your iron tree! I’m sure it’s very cool, but I don’t think my (grown and out of the house) kids would allow it lol
😎 not sure how to post a picture here
You can email me at jessica@jessicadamiano.com
Christmas Tree's - Artificial, Tree Farm Cut or Living to be planted and grow! Being allergic to Pine, I have had an artificial for last 50 years. The artificial trees can be recycled as they are mostly metal with a plastic coat paper to act as needles on most. A lot of people like the smell, fullness and height of the fresh cut and the landfills usually grind and mulch them here where I live. Some people also find that Goat farmers want them for feed and goat farmers here locally were actually advertising for them last year! Others sink them in lakes and ponds as aquatic fish structure, but bottom line is they don't have to be landfill trash or burnt. Twenty years ago after Christmas, we purchased 24 Norwegian Spruce from a Farm Market after Christmas for $10 each, stored them surrounded by straw bales for balance of Winter and they border one side of my property today. The movements to not mow your grass for month of May this year and now put your leaves around your flower beds, garden beds and or leave on your lawn really is confusing. Oak leaves being acidic, mixed with Maple leaves that seem to be twice as abundant as oaks, mixed with chokecherry, mulberry, osage orange and walnut seems like a mix that no plant would want a part of. Couple that with all the different diseases and bugs that are already attached to the leaves not to mention weed or grass seeds, and I don't think I want the mess landing in my garden or flower beds creating a harmful mess. Good home made compost is a 2 year build to third year use process and most people purchase additives and starters to make it, but in the end they have an unknown NPK and Unbalanced PH that could be both helpful or hindering to their flowers or vegetables. I don't take my leaves to the dump nor burn them to pollute the air, but they do get ground up and mulched in the field next door. I will say that the grass where they are mulched is not the best growing patch in the field which makes you wonder whether leaves actually are a healthy additive or an unhealthy hindrance!