When’s the right time to put up the Christmas tree? Should Santa gifts ever be wrapped? Is a new outfit essential for Christmas Day? These are just a few of the topics that divide opinion over the festive season.

Each week, we’ll be diving into a new Dinner Table Debate, getting to the bottom of the most contentious Christmas questions.

This week: Which is better – a real tree or a fake tree?

Norway spruce, Nordmann fir, Fraser fir, pink, pre-lit, or no tree at at all. Year after year, the decision between a real tree or a fake tree looms large, and both types have their loyal devotees.

The first ever artificial Christmas tree didn’t originate for convenience, but for necessity. By the mid 19th century, the tradition of cutting live trees in Germany had depleted the country’s evergreen forests, so manufacturers began brainstorming other options.

Early artificial trees were made entirely of metal, branches and all. True success for fake trees came in the 1900s, according to The Telegraph. By that time, the Addis Brush Company in the US had launched a highly convincing version, made using the same methods as a toilet bowl brush. 

These days, fake trees come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny desk varieties to seven-foot towers.

While they’re considerably less untidy and also safer for pets (certain varieties of fir tree can be mildly toxic to cats and dogs), some would argue that the lack of a “tree smell” and the general inauthenticity are dealbreakers. 

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Up to 400,000 real trees were estimated to be sold by the Irish Christmas Tree Growers Association last year, so there’s definitely a market for the real deal – but which one do you prefer?

So tell us: Will you have a real tree or a fake tree this year?

Want to win yourself a Wine Advent Calendar? We’re playing Santa with a weekly Aldi Christmas Magazine competition. Enter right here. 

More: ‘Our meeting at the airport didn’t work out’: 7 Irish people share their most treasured Christmas stories>