Real Christmas Trees

[polak]

I've had real trees my whole life when I lived with my parents. This will be the first time I'm decorating my own place with the GF. I wish I could get a real tree but living on the 3rd floor and having a dog that is just a notch above brain dead makes that hard.

I love the smell of a real tree.

[Fuzz]

We always had one like this:

never leaked but was a bit of a pain as the screws would sometimes go in crooked.

[Simon96Taco]

Yeah, I also think it's cool that there is a permit. It's issued by Alberta Environment & Parks. Maybe there is an equivalent body in Ontario?

I use a tree stand that has 4 screen in clamps from the outside in. The trun sits in a fairly large bucket/reservoir type thing which holds about 4 litres of water. Once the tree warms up inside and comes out of dormancy, it drinks a LOT of water over those first two days. I usually end up filling it full, twice. Then it becomes a biweekly sort of thing to top up.

[Poe969]

I think I had the kind of stand you're talking about too, it even had a thing you screw into the bottom of the trunk to help it s tand. For some reason it leaked and we got mad and threw the old stand out. I know there's all kinds of new stands out there so I just want to know what people with real trees use.

Congrats on your first Christmas at the new place Polak, have fun with it and do all the things you wanted to do as a kid but weren't allowed to do. I remember at my first place I went completely overboard and it was awesome. I had the most sacrilegious tree topper of all time (even though I'm religious) but I had to retire it after I got married but while I had it, it was epic.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by troutman

Greenest Christmas tree — real, artificial or other?

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-...ristmas-trees/

The research team at Ellipsos has provided a definitive answer. In its study, the real tree emerges victorious!

According to Ellipsos, the artificial tree has three times more impacts on climate change and resource depletion than the natural tree. That's assuming your artificial tree lasts six years. If your tree will last more than 20 years and if you'd have to drive a long way to buy a real tree, the opposite becomes true.

I bought a fake one this year for my new home. Luckily my previous one lasted over 30 years!

[Yanda]

Home Depot is selling tree's this year, not sure about pricing but there associates have taken coursework on proper loading techniques.

[CroFlames]

I typically get mine from big orange.

[polak]

Originally Posted by Poe969

Congrats on your first Christmas at the new place Polak, have fun with it and do all the things you wanted to do as a kid but weren't allowed to do. I remember at my first place I went completely overboard and it was awesome. I had the most sacrilegious tree topper of all time (even though I'm religious) but I had to retire it after I got married but while I had it, it was epic.

Thanks! Yeah my mom always had a purple themed tree. Drove me nuts. It will definitely feel nice and homey to get the tree in.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I had the most sacrilegious tree topper of all time

Go on...

[calgarygeologist]

So I think that this year might finally be the year that I get a permit and go cut down a tree if the weather is good in two weeks time. Can anyone provide some tips on which areas are good and easily accessible? We could do the Ghost area or the Bragg Creek/Elbow River area.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

To me, getting a live tree seems like the a waste of a perfectly good tree that is better left in nature.

Anyone have a counterpoint to this?

research how plastics are made and disposed of

what is your house made of? any paper? table? chairs?

[GGG]

We did Bragg creek this year. Just pay attention to the map on the permit to make sure you are cutting in the right place. For the most part North of the highway, not in provincial parks is allowed.

Another alternative but with fires and hot coco is the 4H jumping pound lot where for $5 per tree you can cut them down. I don't like the trees as they just let you cut the pines whereas I like the Spruce trees better

[InglewoodFan]

Just to add to the thread necromancy, I picked up a tree from the local Boy Scout / Girl Guide supporting lot. Which means I got to try out my new tree stand. Verdict - life changing. It works perfectly.

Such a smart idea to have a cable pull all the jaws around the tree with constant tension. Holds 2.5 gallon of water with an indicator to show when I am getting low. Super stable. This tree isn't going anywhere. I'm an engineer, I love smartly designed devices that solve a problem.

Was it pricey? Sure. But as my wife pointed out, how much have we lost in broken ornaments due to our previous stand letting the tree fall yearly it seems.

Lee Valley has them locally or they are on Amazon.