Have had very good luck with Cummins, good luck with Virginia Vintage Apples (Albermarle Cider Works), Adams County, with less fidelity to size or so I believe, with Stark, although they do send things on time and the right cultivar. Always buy whips. In 5-7 years they will bear and you have less invested in them. BTW, best planting instructions come from Cummins and their Geneva rootstock is top notch - especially the 890. Big orchards here in the Shenandoah Valley use Adams County a lot. They are also top notch.
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I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Fast Growing Trees, @PomGranny! They were one of the places I tried hosting trees with multiple grafted fruits. When my 5-in-1 cherry tree was hit by a rough midwestern spring, their customer service gave me a credit to purchase another. My “fruit cocktail” tree (plum, nectarine, and peaches) has been in the ground for three years and…well, it’s pretty fast growing!
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I do suppose they have some large financial backer…to have gone from nothing to #1 volume seller in America in trees!
The jury is out on the ‘bang-for-the-buck’ from them. Pricy from my perspective.
I really like Cummins nursery; I love the family history side, and the selection, and I’ve only gotten great trees and great service and advice from them, including this year. I grew up about 3 miles from them and am a Cornell alum, so I may be a bit biased. But I’ve also eaten a lot of good fruit from the area that grew from Cummins’ trees.
I also recommend that you consider White Oak Nursery (Strasburg, Lancaster County, PA). The owner, Amos Fisher, is Amish, so there is no web site and he does mostly mail-order business. You write to request a catalog and they mail one to you; it’s like 3 1/2" x 5". But I think they can get phone messages in a pinch. The prices are great, and Amos Fisher supports Backyard Fruit Growers, bringing many varieties of scionwood to their annual grafting workshop, and often hosting their fall apple tasting (a real treat if you are guessing about what varieties to try).
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I agree that fast growing trees are pricey. I think I tried to buy from them two times and canceled my order both times. One time I tried buying a Gold Nugget Mandarin tree but found out it was only 12-24 months old so I canceled it because I could get a 24-36 month old Gold Nugget Mandarin tree from Four Winds Growers. I also thought of buying peach trees from them but I think one variety was priced at 100 dollars and another was also super high priced so I canceled the order because I can buy a tree for 28-50 dollars this fall.
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I know that the tree received was tall, filled out, and ‘pretty’ - but by the time I clipped it, to train it properly as an open center . . . it looked like most other trees which could be purchased for a lot less. I figure I had to cut off about $50-60 worth of growth. That is where they ‘get you’, if you don’t realize that is what needs to be done.
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I like RestoringEden south of Seattle. I’ve only bought stuff in person but they do ship. I bought a potted apple last year that didn’t take and Troy the owner gave me credit no questions no hassle. I was down there this morning and bought some fig trees.
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Local is best—when you can get it. . . and when they’re not charging McKinleys for apple trees(!). I’ve bought great plants at a very fair price from Peaceful Heritage Nursery in Stanford, KY, which is just about a 25-30 minute drive from here. Blake, the owner, is a knowledgeable, helpful and all-around very nice guy. Nice selection—especially for a small, family-run operation. He also ships.
Hidden Springs in Cookeville, TN, has a smaller selection, and the plants are generally on the small side, but they tend to be healthy and very reasonably priced. They are helpful and prompt to reply.
Of the larger outfits, I’ve had the most consistent luck with One Green World. Prices aren’t the best or worst—certainly won’t be paying $500 bucks for an apple tree!—, but the stock I’ve received from them has usually been good to excellent.
I’ve not dealt with them myself, but my folks bought some pear trees from Grandpa’s Orchard years ago, and those were definitely some of the biggest, nicest bare-root trees I’ve ever seen. If ever I can get more land, time, money and energy, I ought to try them out one of these days.
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I wish I had good local places near me. The places near me typically charge a arm and a leg for things. The places that don’t cost a arm and a leg are often times mislabeled. I think it depends on where you are on your luck of nurseries. I will buy my annuals local because annuals are typically super cheap but I refuse to buy perennials local because the selection is slim and the price is high.
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The best place depends a lot on your climate/location and what you’re looking for. Burnt Ridge has been good quality and more affordable than most PNW nurseries. If you are looking for Citrus and are in a Citrus producing state, you will need to find a nursery within your state. The Deep South is a challenging climate that not many northern suppliers understand. Southern nurseries like Ison’s might be your best bet. For northern plants I have had good experiences from Fedco and by ordering scionwood (Fedco, Maple Valley, Fruitwood [though that last one is in California which makes shipping expensive and scheduling/inventory weird for me as I am currently in the upper Midwest) and doing my own grafting.
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Shipping changes prices for you? For me it seems like whatever website I go to it is at 23 dollars. Some places like raintree or Indiana berry have better shipping cost but raintree makes up for it with their high prices and it is only lower when I am buying one or two trees at raintree. Once I have 3 or more trees it was cheaper to go with someone like Grow Organic Peaceful valley that has a flat rate of 30 dollars. With Indiana Berry they are not shipping big things so it does not really increase but they sell out fast and far before my planting time. Best prices for trees that you buy in bulk my experience is grow organic peaceful valley. Their dwarf cherry tree is 30 dollars and shipping is flat rate and it can cost a few dollars per tree with enough trees. If you are not buying in bulk like one or two trees it depends and you will have to look around. Bay Laurel has great prices on peach trees and has a lot of variety of peach trees for example.
Hi. I’m new here and noticed you mentioned you deal with hot, dry winds where you live. I’m trying to decide where to start with growing fruit and nut trees. I live in the high desert, with sheltering summers and intense UV index, as well as hot, dry, fierce winds. Zone 8a. And, of course, the soil needs lots of amending. Do you have any thoughts what might be a good place to start?
Apples do great here in Colorado and we have dry winds with dessert areas. If drought tolerance is a concern of yours I would avoid dwarf rootstocks. I would go semi dwarf and up. The reason I mention this is because dwarfing rootstocks often times have small root systems and thus will have less drought tolerance.
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Your climate is very different than mine. Flooding is a bigger problem for me, though my summers are very hot, windy, and dry. Aim for deep rooted trees. M111 is a great rootstock for both flooding and drought. It will also hold a tree in the ground in the 80mph winds we get here a few times a year. I have my rows oriented north and south so the dry south wind will dry out my rows faster when it floods.
Your pruning will have a big impact on your exposure to UV. I’d defer to someone else who has more experience in your climate. Carefully control your branch angles, especially in windy conditions.
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Where are these nurseries located?
For me it’s Kroger , home Depot and Lowes and if I want something they don’t have it’s mail order. Kroger being at the top of the list because they sell trees from Freedom tree farms which are dirt cheap. They have a nice selection of peaches, plums, plouts and apricot and this year they even had persimmon and pawpaw seedlings. Costco had massive honey crisp apples this spring I think they were under 60 bucks but honey crisp don’t do well in my area.
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I got a Pink Lady tree from Costco this year for 20 dollars. It likely is one of my most branched out trees there is. My Spice Zee nectaplum and Green Gage (both from One Green World are my other super branched out trees year 1. The others will be like my cherries where it takes a year or more to get to that point. Issue people have had with these big box stores is mislabeling is pretty rampant. You can spend 3+ years for the wrong kind of fruit. I have to say I have never seen trees for sale at my local King Soopers which is basically our local Kroger.
Often if you want fruit trees that have a good chance to be mislabeled. People usually don’t know they get wrong varieties until someone who knows identify it for them.
Some of the Whole Foods stores have fruit trees for sale. Tractor Supply and Rural King stores have fruit trees pretty cheap, especially later in the spring- close out prices.
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You probably want to consider jujubes.