Green Christmas trees

Which green

Catalogue names tell you the species the tree copies, and that tells you the colour. A pine (Ben Nevis, Grampian, Belvedere) has longer needles in a mid green and often comes with cones and red berries wired in. A spruce (New Jersey, Dorchester) has shorter, denser needles in a darker green. A fir (Lawrence, Kingswood) sits between the two and is the one most often made in real-feel PE tips. If the tree is going against a white wall, a darker spruce gives more contrast; against dark paint or wood, a lighter pine shows better.

What goes with green

Everything, which is why it is the default. Warm white lights and red, gold and natural decorations are the traditional look. Cool white lights with silver, white and glass baubles give a cleaner, colder look that suits a modern room. Multi coloured lights and mixed baubles are the family tree. Green is also the colour that hides a sparse tree best, because the eye reads the gaps as shadow.

Realism and tip material

At the budget end, a green tree is all PVC: strips of foil cut and twisted onto a wire branch, which gives a full silhouette from across the room. From about £130 the outer tips are moulded PE, cast from a real branch, and the tree looks like a fir up close as well as from the sofa. The product page says which, and the tip count tells you how full it is at a given height.

Finding the right green tree fast

Start from the height pages if you know the ceiling, or the price bands if you know the budget; both list green trees alongside the rest. The pre-lit and unlit sections are almost entirely green.