Christmas trees are one of my favorite Christmas traditions, and the holiday season is my favorite time of year. The tree is a central focal spot, a place to put presents, a beautiful reminder of a season of joy! There are several types of trees to consider and we will look at them all here.

The first is the traditional natural tree. Most of us grew up with these, and you cannot match the aroma of one. Going to pick one, and they are all different unlike artificial trees, is a lot of fun and an entire family affair. Whether you pick a previously cut tree or go to a cut your own at a tree farm, choosing a tree can involve lots of family discussion, ranging from people who like the first decent tree they see to those who want to look an hour or longer! You can even pick and tag a tree at a Christmas tree farm in the summer, and then go and cut it down when it is closer to the holidays as we do now.

The outdoor tree is another type. This may be a live in the ground tree growing in a convenient spot that gets decorated or more commonly a tree which is cut and transported, for example to the town square or other public place. There are even communities using artificial trees these days and they are available up to 50 feet tall at least!

One option indoors is to have a live potted tree or other
type of plant. These are quite nice and graceful, but rarely will you find a good sized Christmas tree in a pot; the pot would need to be much too big to be practical. Still, perhaps a bonsai or Norfolk Pine can make a nice and pretty tree.

Artificial trees are becoming very popular today and in general do not resemble the clearly fake trees of the past. A good quality artificial tree will be indistinguishable by eye from a real tree, and they feature hundreds of branch tips, variable colors throughout the branches, and even differing length needles, just like a real one. They are also available in various styles like Balsam, Cypress, Grand Fir, Blue Spruce, and more!

Not all artificial trees try to appear natural however. A pink tree or purple tree or black tree for example is clearly fake, even if otherwise it appears perfect. These strange colored trees can be a lot of fun! My favorite is white probably, as they somewhat resemble a tree outdoors with snow on it. You can even get upside down trees, which are exactly what they sound like.

One option with an artificial tree is to get one that is “pre lit,” which means it already has lights on it. These can be traditional style lights or integrated fiber optics.

One hot area these days are smaller trees and these are great as they fit anywhere. Artificials are most popular, and I even have a small one sitting on my office desk!