December 16, 1999
Web posted at: 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT)

(CNN) - Been too busy to buy a Christmas tree? Hate the idea of waiting in line at the tree lot? Relax and click your mouse, and a fresh fir will be delivered to your residence in four to seven days.

About 33 million trees were sold for Christmas use last year in North America, but only 1 percent were purchased over the Internet or through catalogs, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.

Industry analysts expect the number of cyber sales to rise significantly this year as more and more people leave their saws and axes untouched. Rather, they use a Web search engine and type in "Christmas tree."

	VIDEO
Reporter Mary Pflum goes to the farm where the e-trees come from. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

Online shoppers find Internet sites -- such as www.christmastreesbymail.com or www.xmastreesonline.com -- where you can buy a Christmas tree via cyberspace. The sites offer guidance for selecting fresh Christmas trees and tips on extending the trees' useful lives once they arrive by UPS, Federal Express or other means.

Rather than arranging for a tree to be delivered, some people prefer visiting a tree farm and selecting their own very fresh tree. These sites, such as www.christree.org, offer state-by-state listings. Click on your state, then view a list of tree farms in your area.

Scroll and see the tree farm's operating hours, a contact's name and phone number, fax number, e-mail address and, for some, a URL -- the electronic address online.

If you examine trees at a tree lot or retail store, look for signs of freshness like soft and supple needles with very few of them loose, experts recommend.

At tree farms, expect to pay $3 to $4 a foot for a tree and in urban retail locations, between $4.50 and $6.50 a foot, according to a spokesman for the National Christmas Tree Association.

The average Christmas tree is six feet tall and has taken seven years to grow to that height, an industry spokesman said. The most popular Christmas trees are balsam fir, Douglas fir, Frasier fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.

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Online information will help. A Web site says that the Eastern white pine, for example, has needle groups that "are soft, flexible and bluish-green to silver in color and are regularly arranged in bundles of five."

Is cutting Christmas trees harmful to the environment? That question comes up often enough that Horton Tree Farms in Ontario, Canada, offers this defense on its Web site:

"Once in a while someone will say we should stop cutting Christmas trees to save our environment. This is untrue! Cutting Christmas trees is an environmentally winning situation. Young, vigorously growing trees like Christmas trees are nature's most efficient oxygen producers....

"Christmas trees provide an ideal habitat for birds and animals of all sizes.... Natural Christmas trees are totally biodegradable and have many uses after the Christmas season. Municipalities 'chip' them for use on walkways in damp areas in parks or to reduce grass-cutting costs.... Whatever their uses, Christmas trees easily compost and will eventually provide pure, rich, black soil."

Correspondents Allan Dodds Frank and Mary Pflum contributed to this report.