‘Tis the season, and once again it’s time to set up and decorate the Christmas tree! For some families, that means a sojourn to the tree farm, but more and more people are opting for the beauty and convenience of an artificial tree. This year offers a stunning selection of the best artificial Christmas trees, providing Yuletide centerpieces that will continue to bring joy season after season!

Consider the Advantages!

A manufactured tree is not only more convenient but also brings several additional benefits!

• Appearance. An artificial tree doesn’t look exactly like a natural one (although there are some amazingly realistic looking ones available), and that can be a good thing. You can choose the look you like, including color, fullness and style.
• Cost-effectiveness. Your artificial tree may require a bigger initial outlay, but it can last up to 10 years and possibly more! It will pay for itself several seasons earlier than that.
• Environmental friendliness. You might assume that a tree growing out of the ground is more sustainable, but consider the impact of watering, fertilizing and of cutting a new plant every year. A synthetic tree that lasts five years or more can have a lower environmental footprint.
• Convenience. With artificial trees, there’s no daily watering, no fallen needles to clean up and, in most cases, no strings of lights to untangle! There are no allergens to distress sensitive noses. Setup and takedown are a cinch! Some older faux trees had branches to attach, but these days most branches are hinged and just unfold into place. There are even pop-up pre-shaped trees that spring into shape right out of the box.

Choose Your Ideal Artificial Tree

Manufactured trees can be tall and short, skinny and broad, green or flocked, realistic or stylized. Here are some tips on selecting one that’s just right for your home.

The Right Size and Shape

Most people choose trees 7-7 ½ feet in height, which fit comfortably into most rooms. However, free-standing trees can be as tall as 12 (or even 15!) feet or as short as four feet. Whatever the height, there should be at least six inches between the tree and ceiling, or a foot if you plan for a star or angel. You’ll need six inches of clearance from the wall.

Trees come in widths including full, slim and extra slim (aka pencil). Many people prefer the traditional look of full trees. However, thinner trees are suitable for a tight room, an odd corner, or just a more minimal look.

There are also tabletop trees as short as 2-3 feet. They might come in pots or urns rather than traditional tree stands. They’re great for small condos, apartments, dorm rooms, desk tops, assisted living environments, and they also work as a second tree in a hallway or smaller room!

How Real Do You Want It?

When you shop a tree farm, you might wander several acres and consider multiple species. Many artificial trees are modeled after living varieties, and you can compare them in a single showroom or on a website! Substitute pines will have thin, soft needles, while synthetic spruce needles might be sharp and pointy. Most firs will boast a fuller look. Some counterfeit conifers have cones for added realism.

In general, full trees are more realistic trees. Branch tip count, which measures the number of finger-like tips with needles on the branches of the tree, is an indicator of fullness. 800-900 is an ample count for a 6 ½ foot tree, and 1,200-1,500 is suitable for a 7 ½ foot specimen. A current trend is to select a tree with foliage that is very full, so you can’t see through it even when placed in front of a window. These full foliage trees are very easy to shape. On the other side, there are sparse trees that have a lot of space between branches (a la Charlie Brown). This style allows you to show off your decorations.

Then there are trees that make no pretense of looking like anything found in nature! They might be white, silver, black, copper, gold or even red, suitable for a more imaginatively decorated room.

Needle Construction

Artificial needles are made either from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene (PE). PVC is more common. The material is cut into strips and pressed into needle shape and twisted on a wire metal core.. PVC needles can be soft or hard, bushy or flexible, depending on the thickness of the material used. They can be stressed into a cashmere style to make them look softer.

PE needles are more realistic from real pine needle tips and more expensive. The PE material is injected into a mold, often formed with real needles. It gives them a three-dimensional look remarkably similar to what you’d find in the forest.

Some trees combine both PVC and PE needles.

Lighting It Up

Most artificial trees come with lights, and there’s no untangling, stringing, unstringing and storing! Christmas tree lights are either the familiar incandescent lights or LED light strands.

Incandescent bulbs are inexpensive and provide that comforting soft Christmastime glow. Newer long-life incandescents come with chip technology, but they still have only a fraction of the longevity of LEDs. Furthermore, LEDs don’t get hot to the touch!

You can find an artificial prelit Christmas tree in single color lights, often white, or you might opt for multicolored strings. There are special effects such as flashing and changing shades. If you can’t decide, go for multi-mode lights that switch colors and effects at the touch of a button. Some offerings even play music and feature lights that twinkle, chase or flash along to the beat.

For the ultimate convenience, consider the single-plug tree with no dangling plugs and sockets. Just set up the bottom section and plug it in, and the upper sections automatically light up when you insert them! They’re powered by low voltage that runs through the metal trunk.

You can still find artificial trees that come with no lights at all. You can display them au naturel for a yesteryear look, or you might change your light setup every year or two as your tastes evolve.

Whether you’re decorating an artificial Christmas tree for the first time or upgrading your old manufactured tree, you’re sure to be delighted with the choices that are in store this Christmas season. It’s an ideal year to ring in the holiday festivities by rocking around a new artificial tree!