BIG TREE PLANTATION
Info: 2544 S. Waynesville Road, Morrow, OH 45152, (513) 836-0975, www.bigtreeplantation.com
Types of trees, costs: Cut your own Canaan fir (balsam fir), white and Scotch pine $35 and up. Pre-cut Fraser firs, Douglas firs, and burlapped trees also available. $40 and up. Container trees $12.50- $125.
Extras: Saws, shaking and baling services available. Wagon rides and hot chocolate. Wreaths available, live reindeer, life-size Nativity scene; delivery, set-up and pickup services available.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 22.
Directions: I-71 to exit 32 (Morrow); east 1.2 miles to South Waynesville Road, turn right.
BERNINGER TREES AND WREATHS
Info: 1220 Stubbs Mill Road, Lebanon, OH 45036, (513) 932- 1758. www.berningertreesand wreaths.com
Types of trees, costs: Cut your own Canaan firs, Scotch or white pine, $30. Precut Fraser firs $55 and up.
Extras: Handmade wreaths.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Noon to 5 p.m. week days through Dec. 24. Hours on Dec. 24 will be 9 a.m. to noon.
Directions: From I-71, take Ohio 48 north to Ohio 123. Turn right on Ohio 123, then immediately turn right on Stubbs Mill Road. From I-75, take Ohio 63 east through Lebanon. This becomes Ohio 123. Turn right on Stubbs Mill Road. Farm is 1.1 miles on left.
TIMBERWIND TREE FARM
Info: 1566 W. Pekin Road, Lebanon, OH 45036, (937) 746-5027, www.timberwindtrees.com
Types of trees, costs: White pine, Scotch pine, Austrian Pine, and Norway spruce Christmas trees. Trees of all sizes from 4 to 12-feet tall. 500 trees available. $25 for any size pine tree, $35 for spruce and fir trees, $45-75 for 8 to 12-foot pre-cut fir trees.
Extras: Saws provided, trees baled, wagon rides, antique tractor, free hot chocolate and family photo.
Hours: Open Saturdays (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Sundays (11 to 5 p.m.) through Christmas.
Directions: From the Dayton area, take I-75 south to Route 73. East on Route 73 for 3 miles to Route 741. South on Route 741 for 3 miles to Pekin Road. East on Pekin Road for a half-mile to Timberwind. From Cincinnati, take I-75 north to Route 122. East on Route 122 for 5 miles to Route 741. North on Route 741 for 2 miles to Pekin Road. East on Pekin Road for 0.5 mile to Timberwind.
WERTZ FAMILY TREE FARM
Info: 5682 Union Road, Franklin, OH 45005, (937) 746-7870. www.chooseatree.com
Types of trees, costs: Cut your own Canaan fir and Scotch pine and pre-cut Fraser, Blue spruce. Cut-your-own $7/foot, Pre-cut $8/foot. Economy tree start at $35.
Extras: Handmade wreaths, saws provided, free hot chocolate; free tree shaking, baling and drilling.
Hours: Noon to 7 p.m. every day through Dec. 24. Other hours by appointment.
Directions: 2 miles North of Atrium Medical Center.
LEBANON — Area residents can be seen wielding long saws and wide smiles when visiting any of the county’s Christmas tree farms.
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Berninger Tree and Wreaths in Lebanon was filled with families eager to start the holiday season by picking out the best tree and chopping it down.
Among them were Brad Amstutz of Maineville, who brought along 4-year-old son, Carter, and 7-year-old son, Ethan, to help fell a 6-foot-tall tree.
Amstutz said the experience was well-worth the $30 cost.
“We started doing this four or five years ago to set some traditions with the boys,” he said. “We like the ambience of the live tree, the smell of the pine.”
Dr. Howard Berninger, 86, said although his property features 15,000 trees of all sizes on about 15 acres of land, his business supplies more than just that.
“We provide a walk in the country,” he said. “If they find a Christmas tree, so much the better.”
Hand-made wreaths, courtesy of Berninger’s wife Lois and their son Peter, start at $15. A sign advertises other benefits of a visit: A free handmade ornament, popcorn, hot chocolate and advice.
Berninger said he bought the property in 1953 “to live in the country” and planted 3,000 pine trees several years later.
“After they started getting five or six or seven feet tall, we had friends and neighbors saying ‘Can we take one of those for a Christmas tree?’ and that was the start,” Berninger said.
The part-time business lapsed for several years as family members became more involved with their jobs but revived itself nearly 20 years ago
Berninger, who cannot believe some people prefer fake trees to real ones, posts a list of “mythbusting” facts from the National Christmas Tree Association to dispel a host of fallacies associated with both.
“I’m afraid there’s still a few people that believe cutting down a tree is bad,” he said. “They’re very mistaken. We, and probably every Christmas tree grower, will plant three to five trees for every one that’s cut down.”
Big Tree Plantation in Salem Twp. features 60 acres filled with nearly 60,000 trees. Of that acreage, about 7,000 are available for purchase, along with pre-cut trees.
“We don’t make all of the fields available at one time,” said owner/general manager Bryan Keeton. “It’s a way to manage quality and size.”
Original owners Ann and Frank Antenucci, who still own the property but sold the business in January, remain on hand to greet new and long-time customers.
Those customers return year after year for the family experience, Keeton said, which includes free hot chocolate, hayrides and horse-drawn rides. There’s also a winter wonderland where children make crafts, ice a cookie, get their faces painted and see alpacas, reindeer, pygmy goats and a miniature horse.
“It’s a family experience,” he said. “We do so much more than just the tree.”
Big Tree Plantation also gives away a seedling for every Christmas tree purchased. “We’ve got folks with 20 trees in their backyard from our seedlings,” he said.
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