Are they trying to kill off the Christmas Tree?

Has anyone been paying attention to the debate concerning using a traditional tree at Christmas?

There is a raging debate and personally I fear the PC brigade are taking it too far.

http://www.landscapejuice.com/2006/12/is_the_christma.html

 

Christmas trees are a cash crop like any other. I'd rather see them cut when they are small rather than grow into gloomy wildlife unfriendly conifer plantations.
Personaly I wouldn't be seen dead with an artificial Christmas tree and wonder if Bob Flowerdew has any thoughts about the pollution caused by making plastic trees. Possibly his are recycled ones.

What bothers me much more is the PC fascists who try to de-Christianise Christmas. They ban school Nativity plays and insist that we say "Happy Holiday" instead of "Happy Christmas". I am not a religious person, but I do recognise that our ancient pagan Midwinter Festival is now the Mass of the birth of Christ. It should be celebrated as "Christ's Mass"

The Christmas Tree is a pagan survival from tree worshipping Germans and our Anglo-Saxon ancestors would have had something very similar. Today, the lights and glass baubles etc symbolise light in the depths of winter. The lights are a dim memory of a midwinter fire festival that was intended to persuade the sun to return after the shortest day.

Long live traditional and REAL Christmas Trees!

 

Many of the trees sold as Xmas trees were the thinnings from the dreadful conifer plantations. They would have been burnt at one time instead of being sold for the festive trade. Now as Hornbeam says, they are grown specifically for sale. They take no longer to grow to using size than many other crops and as long as they are shredded and composted they must be better than oil based plastic ones.
The day they stop me from singing Handel's Messiah is the day I know the lunatics have taken over the asylum!
Oh and Happy Christmas to everyone of all persuasions!

 

Just like to say that I always thought Bob Flowerdew was a bit of a plonker. :D

 

We don't have a tree as such, I normally cut down some of the red willow or dogwood from the garden and put it into a big pot and decorate that instead. Looks lovely and they normally get cut down in spring anyway. It also has not travelled miles using fuel.
Mind you, I would rather everybody used real trees than plastic ones anyday as the production and disposal of plastic trees is far more damaging to the environment than growing trees as a cash crop.

 

I can't see a problem in Christmas trees being a cash crop - any tree being grown is a good thing for us oxygen breathers........... And I agree wholeheartedly with not wanting plastic ones - for all sorts of reasons.

 

I read somewhere that young trees produce a greater proportion of oxygen. I'm all in favour of real trees, I have a little rooted one in a pot , which is 5 this Christmas. I have two older ones planted in the garden, but may have to chop them down eventually as they can grow enormous.
Thoroughly agree with HB, most of the Christian festivals are conveniently timed to coincide with the old pagan solstice celebrations, Christmas being close to Yule.
I'm all in favour of celebrations, whatever the excuse!

 

My 6' artificial tree is 21 years old this year! It still looks good and no needles to sweep up for the next 12 months.

 

I always have a real tree - Mr M hides when I go to buy it cos, as he says when I get back, 'not another giant redwood'! Have been good this year and only got a 5ft one!
I have been to get a plastic one many times - but all the ones I like are in excess of �£100 - and I can never quite do it! I love the smell of a real tree too and we cut it up and use it for firewood after Christmas. Wouldnt miss those damn needles in my slippers though

 

There are some bluish trees around now and their needles don't fall at all. The last three year, I have bought one and although they are cut and have no roots, the needles don't fall.

 

We had a great set-up for our first few years at the last house.... there was a row of the dreaded leylandii as a hedge between us and one lot of neighbours, so Christmas after Christmas we chopped them down and had a free Christmas tree, and no leylandii hedge! Smug mode! Only snag, we got a few Christmas beetles, etc in the house too.... gave Tom and Tilly (Jack Russell) plenty of exercise! :D

 

Now ... there are three sensible contributions

 

It seems the argument is swaying towards the 'for' camp and plastic is less favourable.

For me the real tree conjures up memories from childhood.

I lived on the edge of an army common in Bordon Hants and my brother, sister and I would go out in the dark with my dad and his wood working saw and cut down a young pine of about 5'.

We didn't get a real cut tree until a few years later as there were only a few about.

Plastic just does not do it for me.

Back to the debate though about harvesting real trees. They are indeed a cash crop and it is my view that if the grower continually replaces the harvested trees then the loss is wiped out.

I would hazard a guess that the recent firework factory explosion in the south recently, did more damage to the environment in one night than all the trees that were removed from their patch in the all of UK.

 

I've just bought one pot-grown tree of about 18" which is my christmas tree this year, and 5 6" treelets. I'm growing them all on for future years and to give to friends. I can't see anything wrong with that environmentally. I can't imagine having an artificial tree.