This weekend we finally found our tree, after hours of searching. It is much more difficult to find a nice live tree in Singapore. We settled on an artificial Christmas tree for the first time in years. I much prefer live trees, but I was so disappointed with the ones I found here I bought an artificial tree. When in Rome, as they say.

Here are the places I went tree shopping. If you know of any other places, please feel free to share.

Live Trees
If you must have that fresh tree from home for the holidays, believe it or not, it can be had in Singapore. You just have to keep an open mind.

Ikea has a nice selection of live trees, ranging from about 4 feet tall to 8 feet tall. They are imported from Sweden, surprise surprise! The price certainly can’t be beat. I saw them from S$49. They are very fresh, having been shipped in a refrigerated container. I noticed no dead needles. My only issue is they were not very full trees, the branches we quite sparse, and I thought they looked a little too Charlie Brown for my taste. Act fast, apparently last year they sold out of their 2000 tree shipment in two weeks.

Far East Flora also has live trees, but on the day I went, I was disappointed with their selection. They all seemed to be quite dry, with brown dead tips. I initially went on Novenber 23rd, the day after American Thanksgiving, so there was no excuse for the sad state of their trees. The prices were twice that of Ikea.

Thompson nurseries also carry live trees, although I didn’t make it there to check them out. I read that they are nice but expensive.

Artificial Trees
If you want a perfectly shaped flocked, colored or optic tree, without all the pesky watering, there are a few nice artificial trees to be had in Singapore, for a price, of course.

Tangs on Orchard by far had the best selection of artificial trees for reasonable prices. Decorated with such flair, reminiscent of Macy’s Herald Square but with a golden bling style, it’s hard NOT to feel the Christmas spirit while shopping. I was mesmerized, and have been back again. They have a whole floor dedicated to Christmas, with beautiful ornaments from the region and quite a few artificial Christmas trees. We decided since we had to go artificial, we’d go really artificial, and went with a black Christmas tree. It is unusual, and we strung it with blue lights, and I still can’t decide if I am happy with the choice. They had less wacky choices available, including some nice looking green trees. My 8 foot black tree cost S$250. Even better, if you belong to Tangs’ membership club, they will deliver for free. I just l love Tangs, it is my favorite department store here.

Robinson’s on Orchard also has a nice selection of Christmas trees, pretty similar to the Tangs collection but more expensive. At Robinson’s an 8 foot tree was from S$550 and up. The most beautiful one they had was S$750 for an 8 foot tree. Alas, it was more than I could stomach for a tree that would cost $120 at home. However, their trees were the nicest of the stores I visited, with more tips and higher quality trees.

Carrefour also has a selection of artificial trees, but nothing as large as 8 feet. Their prices were cheap, and a tree could be had for as little as S$39 for a 4 foot tree. Their most expensive tree was less than S$90. Their trees’ quality reflected their price, but they’d work in a pinch.

Novena Square Mall, located on top of the Novena MRT station, has a nice selection of trees on their first floor, in one of those temporary vendor setups. They had at least a dozen, not quite as nice as Tangs trees, but nicely wired and fluffy versions. They looked very artificial to me, but my husband loved them and was dying to get one. The price was slightly more than Tangs, but not too bad. Their lights were the same price as Tangs. They had a nice selection of decorations too.