Christmas Tree Artificial Versus Realistic

Writen by Bill Quinn

Types of Artificial Christmas Trees There are significant differences in the two primary methods of branch construction on artificial Christmas trees. It used to be that artificial meant artificial – now artificial can mean realistic. Confused, read on and the difference becomes clear.

Artificial Christmas Trees The branches on traditional Artificial Christmas Trees resemble a brush used to clean the inside of bottles (Bottle brush). The manufacturer takes thin sheets of plastic and shreds the plastic into tiny strips. Those strips are then placed between two wires and the wires are twisted tightly together to hold the plastic. This construction technique is technically called PVC for Polyvinyl Chloride. Therefore, if you see a Christmas tree called artificial, PVC or Polyvinyl Chloride, think "bottle brush" technique.

Realistic Christmas Trees The branches on Realistic Christmas Trees are created out of molded plastic. The technical name for this type of plastic is PE or Polyethylene. Often, a branch is cut from a real, fresh Christmas tree, packed in dry ice and shipped to the factory to create a mold. This method of manufacturing has been around for many years and has recently made a come back in the general market place. Therefore, if you see a Christmas tree called realistic, PE or Polyethylene, know it is the same.

With this introduction, let's discuss the differences.

Which is the most realistic? This question always makes me smile, if you want a real, fresh Christmas tree, then buy one. Real Christmas trees are awesome; my uncle sells thousands of fresh Christmas trees a year.

If you wish to reduce the hassle of Christmas then let's discuss the "realism" of artificial versus realistic.

Artificial The PVC-style tree is rarely mistaken for a real Christmas tree. That said, in American culture, fake trees are widely accepted. People come in your house and say "Wow, what a nice artificial Christmas tree". The branches are one of three types, single, dual or triple-tipped.

Single tip means all of the branch tips are nearly identical in shape, size and color. A dual tip has two types of branch tips; often one type is larger and darker in color to represent a mature branch with the other tip being smaller and lighter in color to represent younger growth. A triple or even quadruple tip is similar to the dual tip but also may include "blooming" cashmere style tips to add an elegant dimension.

As one would expect, the more branch types, the high cost associated with the tree.

Realistic The PE style of tree stands a much better chance of successfully imitating a real Christmas tree. In most cases, the branches are modeled after real trees in nature. There are few trees on the market constructed solely of PE because a 100% PE tree is very expensive to manufacture. Therefore, most PE trees are actually a mix of PE and PVC. The PE (realistic) tips are used on the outer portion of the tree while the inner tree is filled with PVC (bottle brush) tips.

Christmas Lights on Pre Lit Trees If lots and lots of lights on a Christmas tree are your cup of tea, I generally recommend an artificial (bottle brush) style tree.

A typical artificial Christmas tree has more lights per vertical foot of tree than the typical realistic Christmas tree. The reason being two fold: first, to keep the cost of the realistic style tree down, the manufactures reduces the number of lights. Second, the artificial Christmas tree typically has more branch tips than a realistic tree. Therefore, there are more branches for attaching lights.

Suitability for Ornaments If you are a huge fan of ornaments, I generally steer you toward an artificial (bottle brush) tree because you can easily bend and move the branches on the artificial Christmas trees to create space for your ornaments. The realistic Christmas trees are not as flexible. In fact, if you bend the branches too much on a realistic Christmas tree, you can rip the molded plastic tip and damage the look of the tree.

About the Author Bill Quinn is a partner with Christmas Trees For Me. Bill's passion is looking at and digging into about 200 pre lit Christmas trees a year to pick the best.