Branching Out to a Silvertip Christmas Tree: Elevate Your Holiday Style

My family loves tradition, which means we don’t change things up too much around the holidays. But last year, my mom was inspired to take an important aspect of Christmas — our tree — in a different direction by branching out to a silvertip Christmas tree!

This is a big deal for us, as we take our Christmas trees very seriously. We’re team real tree and it’s the best team (sorry if you’re on team fake tree). My dad loves to channel his inner Clark Griswold, so going out and finding the perfect tree every year has been an important tradition for as long as I can remember. 

We usually get the same type of tree every year, a 6-8-foot noble fir. We’re still waiting for a light from heaven to shine down on our chosen tree, but we’re always confident we got the right one. It’s always so satisfying to bring it home, decorate it, and appreciate the tree in all its glory. 

As someone who loves tradition and is fairly averse to change, at first, I was not completely sold on changing to a different type of tree. But after helping to decorate this beautiful tree and seeing the end result, I have to admit that silvertip Christmas trees are pretty fun! 

Considering branching out to a silvertip tree as well? In this post, I’ll dive into a bit more info about this type of tree, go over some pros and cons, and also share tips and tricks for decorating it!

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What Is a Silvertip Christmas Tree?

First, let’s look a little more closely at the silvertip Christmas tree. 

In general, the three primary types of Christmas trees are fir, spruce, and pine. Silvertip trees are a type of fir. According to Balsam Hill, fir trees are a popular Christmas tree choice due to their needle retention, long-lasting fragrance, and strong branches. 

The scientific name for a silvertip fir is abies magnifica. “Abies” means “rising one,” and “magnifica” means “magnificent.” Pretty epic, right? The name “silvertip” comes from the color. Although the leaves are a dark-blue green color, they have a silvery coating, which makes them appear slightly silver.

Pros of Silvertip Christmas Trees

There are a lot of advantages to a silvertip Christmas tree. Let’s go over the pros!

• Magnificent 
  • As their scientific name suggests, silvertip trees are quite magnificent due to their impressive height and branches. Especially if you get a tall one, they are effortlessly impressive and are a great way to make a statement without making it seem like you’re trying too hard (even though decorating may involve trying pretty hard, as evidenced by our need for a ladder).

• Space-efficient
  • These trees are also quite narrow in diameter, which means if you’re tight on space, they can save room. Our tree is around 11-12 feet tall, which takes up a lot of vertical space but is easier to maneuver around in our crowded living room.

• Sturdy branches
  • Silvertip trees have pretty sturdy branches, which means they can handle the weight of even heavier ornaments. With a silvertip, you don’t have to worry about whether your tree can sustain the weight of your decor.

Cons of Silvertip Christmas Trees

Although there are quite a few benefits to this type of tree, silvertip Christmas trees do have some cons as well. 

• Pricey 
  • Especially if you get a tall one, these trees are definitely on the more expensive side. If you’re decorating for Christmas on a budget, you may need to sacrifice in other areas to get this tree. 
  • That said, since this tree is such a statement, you may not need as much additional Christmas decor. If you invest in a silvertip tree, you’re getting a great bang for your buck!

• Sparsity of branches
  • The gaps between silvertip branches are part of what creates its iconic look. That said, it can make it more difficult to get the lights to stay on, and it’s less forgiving if your decorations are uneven.

• May require additional decorations
  • Since silvertips have a different look, I recommend a slightly different approach to ornaments, which we’ll talk about next. Your usual tree decorations may not work for this tree to achieve the look you want, so keep that in mind when considering a silvertip Christmas tree. 

Tips & Tricks for Decorating a Silvertip Christmas Tree

Now that we’ve gone over the pros and cons of silvertip trees, let’s explore some tips and tricks for decorating. 

Get the Lights Right

I’m very passionate about Christmas lights. While they’re always critical to the success of Christmas tree decor, for a silvertip tree, you must space the lights correctly, or it won’t look right. 

As mentioned previously, the gaps in the branches can make it difficult to get the lights to stay where you want them, since silvertips don’t have the density that Christmas trees often have. If you just wrap them around the tree like you normally would, they probably won’t end up in the right place. 

To overcome this, when putting lights on the tree, hook the lights around the tips of the branches. Make sure you don’t have any gaps, and go over areas multiple times if you need to. 

Normally, when we put lights on a tree, we start at the bottom (by the outlet) and work our way up. However, for decorating the silvertip tree, we started at the top, which I recommend doing because it’s easier to control the placement. Since our tree is so tall, we needed a ladder to do this, and it still wasn’t easy.

Since you can’t plug in the lights at the top, one thing that we did which was helpful was to plug another strand of lights in and periodically bring it up to the one at the top so we could test how the lights looked as we worked our way down. It was a little bit of a hassle to keep plugging and unplugging our test strand of lights, but it more than paid off by preventing us from having to completely redo the lights.

Go for a Minimalist Approach

With such a stunning tree, less is more. Our family has dozens of sentimental ornaments, and I normally insist on getting them all on the tree, aesthetics be darned. But this year, since we were trying out something different, we thought we’d try to keep it simple. 

My mom found these large 6-inch shatterproof ornaments on Amazon. We started with just two sets, but decided the silvertip could benefit from a few more since it’s so tall, and got several additional sets.

Still, there are only 20 ornaments on the tree total, and it’s the biggest tree we’ve ever had. Since the ornaments are so large and the silvertip is so epic, you really don’t need a lot going on.

If you don’t want to invest in gigantic ornaments (understandable), you could also replicate this minimalist effect with regular-sized classic round ornaments. You will just need a few more of them. The key is to keep it simple and ensure the ornaments don’t distract from the magnificence of the silvertip.

Place the Ornaments in the Largest Gaps

Once you have the lights on the tree and have decided on your ornaments of choice, take a few steps back and identify if there are any major gaps in the branches that immediately stand out to you. Those gaps are where you should start placing your ornaments. Then, add others for balance, ensuring to space out different colors and textures. 

One of my favorite Christmas tree decorating tricks is to go for varying depths to add dimension. Even with our regular Christmas tree, I normally place a few ornaments deeper inside. But since silvertip trees have so much more space, it’s even easier to play with depth. 

As mentioned previously, the sparsity of branches is part of what gives a silvertip Christmas tree its iconic look, so it’s ok if there are gaps — just make sure you add enough ornaments for balance so that your eye doesn’t jump to any one place. 

Once you’re satisfied with your ornament placement, you’re finished! We decided to skip the angel/star this year, but if you want to add that, you certainly can.

Although silvertip Christmas trees are not without their challenges, they’re beautiful, and we had a lot of fun trying one out. If you’re looking for a tree that exudes understated elegance and is guaranteed to impress, consider branching out to a silvertip!

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