5ft Christmas trees

Where a 5ft tree fits

Leave 15 to 30cm of clearance for the topper and a 5ft tree suits a 2.1m ceiling. It also suits a 2.4m ceiling in a room where the tree stands on a 30cm plinth or in a bay with a lowered sill, or simply where a 6ft tree would feel too big for the room. Width is about 1m at the base for a full tree, so it needs a square metre of floor.

Pre-lit choices

Twelve of the shop's 38 pre-lit trees are 5ft, more than any other height, which makes this the size with the widest choice if you want the lights fitted. LED counts run from about 200 to 400, almost all warm white and mains powered. The potted, pre-lit 5ft New Jersey Spruce is built for a porch; the indoor pines come with a metal stand.

Unlit and lit by design

Five of the unlit trees are 5ft, from the New Jersey Christmas Tree with cones and berries at £79 upward. A 500-LED set or a 480 cluster set lights one of these well. The twig and microdot section adds four 5ft trees that are all light and no foliage, for a hall or a porch.

Comparing 5ft with 6ft

The step to 6ft adds 30cm of height and about 20cm of width, and the 6ft trees are generally fuller at the same price. If the ceiling allows and the room is a standard living room, 6ft is the more common choice; 5ft is right for a lower ceiling, a flat, a dining room or a second tree.

Decorating

Fifty to seventy-five baubles in two sizes, 500 lights if the tree is unlit, and a topper of 20 to 25cm keep the proportions right. A 5ft tree carries a full garland but a single ribbon spiral looks cleaner.