If you were going out of town for 10 days over the Christmas holidays, would you buy and decorate a live tree for your home? We will be traveling for a portion of the holidays, and my husband still wants to put up a live tree right after Thanksgiving. I am not opposed to decorating the house, but the tree thing is putting me over the edge. We will not have neighbors available to come over and water it either as they're traveling as well. I'd mentioned buying a small fake tree for the years that we travel (a good one of course), and he hates the idea of anything fake. Whatever. I'm to the point that if he wants it that bad, he's going to have to put it up himself on the Friday after Thanksgiving, then take it down before we leave if he wants it. He thinks it would be fine until we got back home if we just leave it. I do not want to come home to a dead, possibly tipped over tree. Your thoughts?
Thanks y'all! I think I will recommend a very small live tree that we could take down quickly before we leave. That way we both get what we want. :) I'd be too worried leaving a big 10 foot tree up for that long without someone to check in, especially with it being about a month after it was bought.
@Cindy L - Our weather has been great this week - 80's today, but will go down to the 60's tomorrow. Nice fall weather for a change for us. Hope your family enjoys their trip. I am fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. :)
I would get a small live tree that goes on a table. As long as you unplug it and water it right before you leave I don't see the problem. I mean, trees don't spontaneously combust. As for getting knocked over, put it on the ground before you leave if you have animals. I personally am against fake trees.
I love a real tree. If you want to ahve that sensation in your home, and plan to do it at Thanksgiving, you will still get several weeks of enjoyment before you travel. But I would get a smaller one, so it is easier to take down the day or 2 before you travel. You will already be busy with travel prep, so make sure this fits into the plans (a smaller one would make it go quicker).
But as the daughter of a lifelong firefighter..and sister of a current one...I agree with a previous poster...H&LL NO. Do not leave it up while you are gone. Why risk it? And who wants to come home to all of that extra work and mess? Personally I would prefer to have it all cleaned up before I go on my holiday trip, as I always feel I need a vacation from my vacation! I would do a much smaller floor tree and set aside a few hours to put it all back where it goes before I leave!
Have a fun trip!
OH HELL NO!
My dad is a retired fire fighter. House fires start WAY too easy with dry Christmas trees.
No. Don't leave it up while you are gone. It's a fire hazard.
My brother and his wife just left this morning for a mini-vacation in Charleston. I hope you've got some nice weather for them! I love that area and am envious of their trip.
We went to Disney for Christmas 09 and put the tree up still. We were gone from the 19-27, and I still wanted it to be Christmas while we were at home. We do a fake tree though for now...not sure if I'd do the live tree because I'd worry being gone for that long and it drying out. I'd worry about a fire. Maybe get a fake one for this year?
If you have no animals in the house to knock it over, and you unplug the lights from the wall... I don't see the hazard. No more than newspaper laying around on the sofa.
I'm with you...i love the look but hate the mess! It took a while but I talked my guy into a fake one (while I was pregnant, probably not an option for ya;-) but the point was I was not going to be caring for it, he was! & he now loves it! Menards has nice ones for decent prices.
Way to dangerous! I would go to walmart and get their least expensive fake tree. Or try Craigslist. We found one for $10 and the other day, I saw someone giving one away for free!We will be out of town as well, but have already opted for a fake tree because my son would eat the needles.
Do a small Table tree.
If you forget to water a smaller tree...It is not as dangerous. If you choose to throw it out, you did not pay as much for it.
Or you could get a fairly inexpensive fake small tree.
If you did get a bigger one....Do not leave by anything flammable..i.e. heating vent. light that may be on a timer...electrical out lets.
I'm also with you. We used to get real trees when we stayed home for the holidays. One time we went out of town for only four day's and came home to a floor full of dried up pine needles...it was horrible! That was a few years ago but I bet that if I look close enough, I could still find a couple of needles that I missed :). I say that this year, get a fake tree (they look so real these day's) and get a real one when you are home for the hoidays. It's much safer and you won't have it on your mind while celebrating the holiday's.
We put a real tree up right after thanksgiving. We are gone from christmas to new years and have not really had a problem with the tree when we get back. That is only 7 days though, not 10. Good luck
If it were me I would wait to get the tree until much much closer to your travel dates and see if you can actually go to a tree farm and cut your own. That way you know for sure that it hasnt been cut and sitting there for a long time chancing a quicker death without constant TLC. This way, if you make it an event (cutting down the tree) you can have some enjoyment from that that you will be missing while out of town. Then just before you leave make sure to water it really well and hope for the best when you get back
we always go somewhere else for Xmas, so we get our live tree early (after Thanksgiving and enjoy for the three weeks up until the day before we leave. Then we take it down and put it outside to take care of the recycle portion of the tree when we return after Xmas.
Every other year we go to Barbados for 2 weeks during Xmas. On those off years we have a Barbados Xmas Tree. It is a pre-lit 3 foot tree. It is easy to decorate and not too much trouble to put up or take down. We celebrate Xmas as a family before we leave which is usually the last Sunday before the trip.
Having a real tree sounds like too much trouble and worry, but if your husband is willing to take care of it, let him.
