BY MIKE PULFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[miller]](/editions/1998/11/21/miller_180x121.jpg)
Bob and Eileen Miller tend to 106 acres on their tree farm.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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Bob and Eileen Miller had spent decades in their respective careers, he as the owner of an auto body repair shop, she as a weight-loss counselor. To supplement their retirement, they decided to start a new business together: owning and operating a Christmas tree farm.
"We always went to tree farms with our own (five) children," Mrs. Miller says. "So we knew a little bit about it.
"Back then, it wasn't so trendy," she says. "But we thought it was a nice tradition, and we still do."
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IF YOU GO
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What: Miller's Christmas Trees.
When: 10 a.m.-dark daily, Friday- Dec. 24.
Where: 1600 Eckmansville Road, West Union, about an hour from downtown. From downtown, go south on Interstate 471, east on Interstate 275, east on Ohio 32, south on Ohio 136, west on Ohio 125 and north on Eckmansville Road. Watch for signs at turn points.
Information: (937) 544-2220.
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In 1985, the couple from Colerain Township bought 106 acres in Adams County and started clearing land and planting seedlings from Pennsylvania. Scotch, white pine, Colorado blue spruce and Douglas fir. Later, they built a log home on the land near West Union, and in 1993, they opened Miller's Christmas Trees.
Today, they plant (about 3,000 a year) fertilize, cultivate and hand-shear trees to assure good color, shape and fragrance. They make wreaths and swags from the trimmings, and they cut and display trees for customers who elect not to cut their own.
But most do.
"Basically, we just give 'em a bow saw and turn 'em loose," Mrs. Miller says. "They can cut anything, anywhere they wish."
Customers can drag their own trees to the sales office or use the roving trailers in the fields. Trees are shaken and cleaned, wrapped in mesh and loaded on or in the car or truck.
Average price for a 6- to 7-foot tree: about $20. Per-foot prices are $3 for Scotch and white pine, $4 for blue spruce and Douglas fir ($10 minimum on all trees).
Wreath prices range from $16 for a 24-inch version to $50 for a 5-foot-diameter wreath.
The hot chocolate and cookies and chats are free.
"Some people come back year after year and bring pictures of their trees, decorated, from the year before," Mrs. Miller says. Customers' favorites?
"The Scotch pine," she says. "It has wonderful needle retention, good fragrance and it's very affordable."
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![[miller]](/editions/1998/11/21/miller_600x402.jpg)