Want to make your home look more festive this Christmas season? Then put down that vacuum cleaner and forget about Marie Kondo-style minimalism. All you need is to stick a bauble-filled Christmas tree in your living room.
Christmas tree roadshows used to be a common sight in shopping mall atriums like Paragon and Takashimaya, but if you’ve visited Orchard Road lately, you might have noticed that they are conspicuously absent this year. Live Christmas trees are scarce due to the heatwave and wildfires in the US as well as Covid-induced shipping issues. The cost of live frees has also shot up this year.
This price guide will help you understand the market price of Christmas trees in 2021 and help you decide whether you should just get a second hand plastic tree on Carousell. (Unless otherwise stated, all prices are inclusive of GST.)
Top 10 live Christmas trees and wreaths in Singapore
|
Shop |
Product |
Price |
|
IKEA |
Live Christmas tree 1.6m / 2m |
$59 / $79 |
|
Petite Fleur |
Christmas wreath 26cm / Pine Christmas tree 30cm |
$120++ |
|
Flower Addict |
Christmas wreath 30cm / Rose Gold Norfolk Island pine tree 1.2m |
$149++ / $179++ |
|
The Interior Collections |
Gold X’mas tree 60cm |
$199 |
|
Raffles Hotel |
Christmas wreath / Mini noble fir tree 40cm / Noble fir tree 180cm |
$180 / $180 / $490 |
|
Far East Flora |
Europe noble fir with stand 2-2.5m |
$379.45 |
|
Sing See Soon |
Fraser fir 1.52-1.83m |
$188 |
|
Candy Floriculture |
Nordmann fir tree 1.23-1.52m / Noble fir tree 1.23-1.52m |
$112.15 / $195 |
|
Wonderland Botanicals |
Tabletop Christmas tree workshop (17 Dec) / Christmas wreath / Noble fir bouquet |
$150 / $135 / $25 |
IKEA live Christmas tree
Good old IKEA is everyone’s port of call for cheap furnishings. This year, their Vinter 2021 live Christmas trees are going for $59 (1.6m) / $79 (2m) at the IKEA Alexandra store only. You can also buy a tree stand for $25.
Recoup a bit of your loss by taking your tree back to IKEA for recyling from 1 to 9 Jan 2022 and receive a free $25 IKEA voucher.
Price: $59 (1.6m tree) / $79 (2m tree)
Purchase and delivery: Purchase at Alexandra store. Delivery charge $15 to $70.
Address: 317 Alexandra Road Singapore 159965
Petite Fleur Christmas wreath and live Christmas tree
Boutique florist Petite Fleur’s 26cm Christmas wreaths, which cost $120, look good enough to eat. Every wreath is arranged specially for the individual buyer, so no two wreaths look exactly the same (just in case you’re worried your next door neighbour will try to one-up you by hanging the same thing on their door).
They’re also selling mini pine Christmas trees measuring 30cm to 60cm for $120 to $210. The trees come freshly decorated and draped in fairy lights.
Price: $120 (wreath), $120 to $210 (trees) + 7% GST
Purchase and delivery: Order online, free delivery
Flower Addict Christmas wreath and live Christmas tree
Flower Addict’s very poofy looking Christmas wreaths come in three sizes—12 (30.48cm), 17 (43.19cm) and 19 inches (48.26cm), with prices starting from $149++.
They also sell 1.2m Norfolk Island pine trees that come already-decorated with fairy lights and baubles for $179++. The relatively small size makes this tree suitable for tight spaces.
Price: $149 (wreath), $179 (tree) + 7% GST
Purchase and delivery: Order online, delivery fee $12 + GST
The Interior Collections
So, green isn’t your favourite colour and you prefer a tree that’s a bit more bling bling? Then you might like this 60cm-tall gold Christmas tree.
The tree is decorated with baubles, artificial plants and a star, and is also draped with lights so you can just “plug and play” the minute you receive it.
Price: $199
Purchase and delivery: Order online, free delivery or pickup from store
Raffles Hotel Christmas wreath and live Christmas tree
This might come as a surprise, but five star hotels don’t only sell mooncakes! Raffles Hotel, at least, is also selling Christmas wreaths and live Christmas trees this year.
Their 50cm Christmas wreaths are going for $180 and look very rustic with a plaid bow.
They’ve also got two Noble fir trees up for grabs–a fully-decorated mini 40cm tree going for $180, and a bare 6 or 7 foot (182 to 213cm) tree going for $490. The big tree is only being sold in limited quantities, so you’ll have to inform the hotel asap if you want to get your hands on one.
Price: $490
Purchase and delivery: Order wreath online and pick up at the hotel or pay $25 delivery fee. To enquire about purchase of tree, email [email protected].
Address: 1 Beach Road Singapore 189673
Far East Flora live Christmas tree
Any plant freak should be well-acquainted with Far East Flora, the biggest nursery in all the land. This year, they’re once again selling noble fir trees imported from Europe.
The trees measure a ceiling-grazing 2 to 2.5m and come with a tree stand. The price? $379.45 including GST. If that sounds expensive to you, they also have smaller trees or mini trees, so you can downgrade your size expectations until you find something within your budget.
Price: $379.45
Purchase and delivery: Order in store or online, delivery fee $25
Address: 565 Thomson Road Singapore 298184 / 180 Kitchener Road #B1-16 City Square Mall Singapore 208539
Sing See Soon live Christmas tree
If you’re looking for an affordable Christmas tree that’s taller than you are, Sing See Soon is one of the few choices you have other than IKEA. Assuming you’re not over 1.8m tall, that is.
Their 5 to 6 ft (1.52m to 1.83m) Fraser fir Christmas trees, sold without a stand, are not only reasonably tall (at least for those of us of average or below-average height), but are also of a Canadian variety that is supposedly quite good looking due to its straight horizontal branches.
Price: $188
Purchase and delivery: Order in store or online, delivery fee $30
Address: 5 Simei Lane Singapore 528710
Candy Floriculture live Christmas tree
Candy Floriculture specialises in flowers and garden plants, and has a very easy-to-use e-shop on their website that lets you order Christmas trees and more.
The nursery offers 4 to 5 ft (123cm to 152cm) Nordmann fir trees for $112.15, sold without a stand. If you prefer the look of Noble fir trees, which look denser and more compact, those within the same size range are going for $195.
Price: $112.15 (Nordmann fir) / $195 (Noble fir)
Purchase and delivery: Order in store or online, delivery fee $30
Address: 567 Thomson Road Singapore 298183
Wonderland Botanicals live Christmas tree
Living in cramped quarters doesn’t mean you have to forgo Christmas decorations altogether. Rather than evicting one of your household members in order to accommodate a tree, go for a tabletop Christmas tree workshop on 17 Dec and learn to make your own tiny tree. Each 2-hour workshop costs $150.
For those who are less hands-on, you can simply go with a Christmas wreath adorned with classic berries for $135. Or for the really economical, get a small bouquet of nobilis fir branches for $25 and pass them off as a table-top Christmas tree.
Price: $150 (workshop) / $135 (wreath) / $25 (bouquet)
Purchase and delivery: Order online, free delivery
Address: 1M Yong Siak Street Singapore 168641
Ecological footprint
As green as they look, real live Christmas trees have a hefty carbon footprint. They are shipped to Singapore from the other side of the world, only to be used for a few weeks and then discarded. The cycle repeats every year as the trees aren’t reusable.
Live trees can also involve some hidden costs. They can be a fire hazard, so you need to be careful around candles and consider spraying the tree with a fire retardant. Many are sold without stands, which you’ll have to buy if you don’t have one from previous years. Disposal of the tree after Christmas also costs money and fuel. The supplier you bought the tree from will usually arrange for disposable at a cost of $30 or $40.
But that doesn’t mean that artificial trees are any better, aside from the fact that they are cheaper. Unlike live trees, which biodegrade, plastic trees will be stuck on earth for thousands of years, long after all of us are dead.
The most eco-friendly thing to do, other than going without a tree, would be to purchase a second hand artificial tree on Carousell. That way, you avoid the production of yet another plastic product, while obtaining a tree that you can reuse year after year at no extra cost.
Another relatively sustainable option is to buy a small potted fir tree. Nurseries like Far East Flora often sell varieties that can survive all year round and will hopefully still be alive by next Christmas.
If all else fails, make your own DIY Christmas tree wallhanging (google it)–cute, sustainable and costs almost nothing!
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