Christmas Checklist: Choosing a tree

Choosing a tree must be one of the most important jobs in the run-up to Christmas. While many pubs opt to dust down a plastic one, there's nothing quite like the sight - and smell - of a real tree.

And these days, of course, there's an ecological angle to consider.

Xmastreesales.co.uk is an online shop which aims to ensure there's no unnecessary harvest of trees to feed the festive need.

All grown on the company's 2,000-acre Shropshire farm, trees can be ordered and reserved but aren't cut until the day before delivery which allows you to select a suitable day for your tree to arrive well in advance. Trees come in heights ranging from 2ft to 40ft, and Tom Whittle, the 23-year-old founder of xmastreesales.co.uk, will personally help you select the right tree for the right location.

"We believe the key to a quality Christmas tree is to have it cut freshly as close to your chosen delivery date as possible," he says. "Some claim this puts the tree into shock but there is no evidence to support this.  "Christmas trees should be treated like freshly cut flowers and buying a tree that has been cut for several days and not been put in water is like buying flowers that are starting to wilt.

"Saying that choosing a freshly cut tree can cause needle loss is completely wrong, too. We supply thousands of trees every year and have never had a complaint arising from distributing a tree too early."

And those plastic varieties? "Artificial trees are made from oil-based products that use up our natural resources," says Tom. "They are also not recyclable and will remain in landfills for centuries after disposal."