Keeping Up The Yuletide Traditions With Real Live Christmas Trees - Balsam, Douglas Fir, and Fraser Fir

Also: Christmas Trees

One of the oldest Christmas traditions is the Christmas tree; a real live Christmas tree, that is. It is good to see that, although artificial Christmas trees sell by the million, live trees do keep the tradition going in many homes in Europe, Australia and North America. bringing a live Christmas tree into the home brings a lot of pleasure to millins of homes.

There is no single species of tree that serves as a Christmas tree. However, it is mostly fir and spruce trees that are the most popular, especially some of the many species of fir. Much depends on the location, and while Silver Fir and Norway Spruce may be two of the most popular types of Christmas tree in Europe, in North America it is more likely to be a Balsam (top left) or Douglas Fir (middle) that provides the focal point for the Christmas decorations. Our bottom picure shows another US favorite, the Fraser Fir.

There are a number of reasons the live Christmas tree has lost ground to the artificial equivalent. There is undoubtedly some extra hassle associated with having a live tree in the home, both in setting up the tree and then decorating it with the Christmas tree ornaments. Next, while the tree is in the house, some types of tree will lose their needles as the tree dries out in the arid home atmosphere, leaving a daily chore of clearing the debris. Finally, there is the problem of how to dispose of the tree at the end of the Christmas holiday, although in some cases the tree may be recycled.

Despite all of that, though, a real live Christmas tree is still insisted upon by millions of householders across the US. That is why you can still find more than 20,000 Christmas tree farms in the US, surviving against the onslaught from artificial trees.

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Sponsored Link: Order Your Live American Christmas Trees

Before It's Too late - Noble Firs or Fraser Firs, Ready November 2007

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