Come December, the choice of paper or plastic isn't limited to just grocery stores.

The question of whether to save a tree can also be raised by Christmas shoppers deciding between real and synthetic.

For many, the choice is easy: Artificial trees equate to convenience.

But for Jim and Wyona Hutchison of Butler, the choice is even easier. "I like a live tree," said Wyona last week, which marked the couple's 40th year of buying a local tree at Renick's Tree Farm in Center Township.

A light plastic bonnet shielding her head, Wyona endured a downpour as the couple browsed the tree lot to select the perfect fir.

Oddly enough, the Hutchisons weren't alone. Several other families braved the rain that day to cut or buy a live tree.

"It's tradition," explained Ryan Moran, who drives from Pittsburgh each year to cut a tree with his father, Ron. "We don't want to break it," added his father of the tradition they have shared for 32 years.

"We say we're going to get (the trees) and go, but we spend about two hours every year," said Ron Moran as he loaded three baled trees onto the roof of a Subaru.

Customers also haul Butler County trees as far as Ohio, Florida and North Carolina, said Marsha Renick, owner of the tree farm, explaining freshness was usually the factor.

"It's better to buy a Christmas tree from a Christmas tree farm or a local lot that bought it from a farm" she explained. Although consumers believe a live tree will lose needles and become brittle quickly, live trees will remain healthy if purchased fresh, she said.

Since many of the trees at discount stores are purchased out of state, they are often cut weeks in advance. A lack of water during shipping compounds the problem of dryness, she said.

"Last year I put my tree up the day after Thanksgiving. I took it down the day after New Year's. It held up good."

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2002 census, Renick is not the only farmer selling live Christmas trees. The census listed 41 Christmas tree farms in the Butler County, with 1,026 acres in production and 21,409 trees sold that year.According to Rick Bates, a Christmas tree extension specialist with Penn State University, Pennsylvania contains about 2,000 tree farms — more than any other state in the nation.Jack Grupp, whose farm occupies more than 100 acres in Muddy Creek Township, plants several thousand seedlings each season. Renick plants about 10,000 on more than 400 acres.But that doesn't mean all of the trees survive. Like any crop, Christmas trees can be damaged by pests and weather.

Drought conditions or too much rain can harm the trees, which take as long as 15 years to mature. "In '88 we had a severe drought. We had trees 4, 5 feet tall start to droop," Grupp said, explaining losses can occur after a farmer has invested several years in a crop.To compensate, more trees are planted than are sold each year. For this reason, buying live Christmas trees does not rob the environment of plant life, as some people believe.But tying up so much land for so many years does present an increased risk to farmers, since consumer tastes change over time. A decade ago, Scotch pine and blue spruce were among the top sellers. In recent years, firs have gained attention for their needle retention, Grupp said. It is not possible to predict these trends in advance, the farmers say.Another misconception is that Christmas trees are low-maintenance compared to other farm crops. But in addition to applying various fertilizers and pesticides, the farmers must trim each tree by hand annually to achieve a desirable shape.While all conifers prefer an upland growing site, different species require different conditions to thrive, so farmers must manage the soil acidity according to the different species planted."Fraser fir tends to prefer an acid soil, and the Douglas has a much wider tolerance," Bates said of the state's most widely grown Christmas trees."Soil with good drainage is one of the key factors, because most of species are real sensitive to heavy water-logged soil." Bates said elevation is also important because the conifers are susceptible to frost damage. "The higher you are, the less likely you are to get frosted," he said.Although many farmers grow trees in bare soil, Grupp and Renick keep grass planted around their crops. In addition to thwarting erosion and eliminating muddy conditions for customers, the grass improves habitat for some types of wildlife.Using pesticides to kill the grass would probably be more profitable, Grupp noted, explaining the green groundcover competes with crops for nutrients and lengthens time required for growing.The mowing in summer months also increases the workload, but esthetics hold value as well. "I like to look at the fields and see all grass," he said.

Keeping grass planted in the fields is just one environmental factor associated with Christmas trees.According to Richard Moore, vice president of the National Christmas Tree Association, many consumers are unaware of the downfalls of buying synthetic trees."The artificial tree will spend six years in the home and 6,000 years in the landfill," he said, comparing biodegradable organic trees to artificial trees, typically made of plastics."Some of these things, even in their native state, can be harmful to you. Some of them do contain trace amounts of lead.""You could make a good case for live trees being better for the environment than synthetic trees," Bates agreed. "They're farm produced; they're not factory produced. It is a renewable resource."I think this idea that you're doing something environmentally wrong when you're buying a Christmas tree really isn't founded. A lot of this land … there would be no trees there: If people weren't buying trees, there wouldn't be a farm, and the alternative would be a housing development."After trees are used, Bates pointed out most regions, Butler County included, maintain recycling programs for the trees, which are used for landscaping mulch, fish habitat and other purposes.

From a flammability standpoint, Moore pointed out the public seems afraid that real trees will catch fire. But Moore and Bates agree the fear is unfounded."A fresh Christmas tree burns about as well as wet newspaper," Moore said."The synthetic trees do burn, contrary to popular belief. An artificial tree will burn, believe me — and when they burn, they give off toxic fumes."From an economic standpoint, Moore and Bates agree agricultural land that is kept in production adds strength and diversity to local economies.Although farmers remain employed throughout the year, they often hire part-time help during the holiday selling season.In summer months, landscapers also do business with tree farms, purchasing many of the species to be incorporated into landscape designs.A recent holiday trend includes buying potted live trees that can later be planted outdoors. Research has led to increased success with replanting the trees in spring, Bates said. "Containerized conifers are one of the new trends, and they're really catching on."

To care for the trees in containers, consumers should store them in an unheated garage until planting time in the spring. Watering should be done once every three to four weeks.Bates said consumers should also know a few facts about caring for freshly cut trees:If more than a day lapses between cutting the tree and placing it in a stand, a quarter-inch or more should be sliced off the base.The tree should then be placed in a stand with a large enough water reservoir. "There are a lot of tree stands out there in the big box stores that are just too small," Bates said. Most fresh trees will use about one quart of water per inch of trunk diameter in a 24-hour period, he said.The average trunk diameter is at least 4 inches. When first brought into the house, trees can use up to a gallon of water in a 24 hour period," he added.To retain optimum moisture, freshly cut trees should be kept away from heat sources, if possible.Since fresh trees do not burn easily, spray-on flame retardant is of no use, Bates said. Additions to the water have also been proven useless. "Adding things into the water like homemade concoctions, things you see on the Web, also don't work at all. For some reason, they help with cut flowers, but they do not with Christmas trees."