Hi all! New(ish) fruit grower here! I’ve been lurking reading posts for awhile but need some input and I’m hoping some of you can help. I’ve successfully been growing several varieties of apples for a few years and I want to branch out and try some of the fun plum crosses. Specifically interested in a Candy Heart Pluerry. I’m planning to pre-order one but I’m not sure where to order from. I’m in WA and within driving distance to Raintree Nursery and Burnt Ridge Nursery but I’m not sure which one to order from. Burnt Ridge is cheaper but are their tree the same age/size/quality? Any input would be appreciated! Thanks all!
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I have trees growing for about ten years ago,from both nurseries.Burnt Ridge plants can be picked up at Olympia’s farmers market,by arrangement.
Candy Heart may need a Plum or Pluot,for cross pollination.
By the way,welcome to the forum.
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Welcome to the forum!! I am also trying to make the most of a 1/4 acre lot.
The last I heard, prices were substantially higher than normal at at least one of the nurseries you mentioned. I ordered from Burnt Ridge last year and had pretty good sized cherry and peach trees shipped. Also keep in mind that bigger is not necessarily better for transplants. If you start a bit smaller (like a 2-3 year old vs 5-6 yr old) you may actually end up with a bigger tree sooner. Stone fruit trees in particular tend to grow very fast and produce early based on my understanding.
Just be prepared to look out for brown rot to remove it, and figure out what spray regimen you plan on for plum curculio if it’s in your area.
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Most people here never transplant even a 2-3 year old tree as rootstocks are grafted, grown one season and then sold as bare root trees.
When those bare roots are tiny sticks instead of 3/4" diameter, well branched little trees with plenty of root I consistently lose at least a year in establishment. Sometimes those tiny trees take 2-3 years just to start growing vigorously.
It is true that a tiny peach tree can become a big, heavy bearing tree in a hurry, as can J. plums, but as long as larger trees have the same ratio of root to the top, they should consistently stay ahead of trees that are smaller at time of planting if properly planted in a manner to reduce shock.
I have a nursery that sells bearing age fruit trees for people who have too much money and too little time and often trees that I dig and plant the same day show almost no setback from transplanting, allowing harvest the first season in their new locations.
What you say about starting with a small tree sometimes being advantageous is not wrong- that is, it all depends. Balled and burlapped trees lose most of their functioning root systems when dug up and, depending on species, can take a long time to recover. However, when buying bare-root trees, decent size tends to accelerate establishment- as long as the size includes ample root.
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I prefer the smaller trees to shape how I want them. I have found older plants not just trees take way longer to establish.
As is stated by many extension services such as this one… Watering newly planted trees and shrubs | UMN Extension
I agree with disc4tw’s advice.
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Alan you make a fair point, not all root balls are left intact. My experience was more referring to a potted or ball and burlap (more so the latter) as the usual nursery setup. For bare root, which is how the trees I talked about above were shipped, you’ll likely have better luck. It also helps when money is no object and clients only want fruit next year 
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I’ve ordered from Raintree and Burnt Ridge repeatedly. I like Burnt Ridge pricing, and their plants haven’t caused me to complain yet.
Raintree may have a bigger selection and a prettier catalog
but usually my order from them is for something Burnt Ridge doesn’t have.
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Brown rot isn’t much of a problem here in western Washington,except for the kind that affects the blossoms and Plum Curculio in non existent,for all I know.
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burnt ridge and raintree likely have the same supplier for some of their trees. they’re all going to be the same 1- or 2-year field grown bare root trees and the size difference is based on variation between trees in the same setting (no age difference)
burnt ridge’s pricing advantage will disappear a little when they up-charge you for a “large” tree after you order. but raintree shipping charges were a touch high last year
for dwn trees consider groworganic, they have better pricing
I ordered from all three last year and got excellent trees, 100% survival and two of them, surefire cherry and nectaplum, I let fruit a tiny amount the first year. btw the larger caliper trees have ended up doing better and growing faster across the board, I guess they had plenty of roots to take advantage of their size
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Do you graft? If so that gives you many choices?
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Most trees via both burnt ridge and Raintree come from Dave Wilson and will be about the same. The only difference being how pruned they are. Raintree sales their plants for a lot but offers cheaper shipping. A good example is Raintree will sale a Indian Free peach tree for 54 dollars but offer 12 dollars shipping to where I am but Bay Laurel will sell a Indian Free peach for 27 dollars but will charge 33 dollars for shipping to me. It will still be the same up to 3 trees though.
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Eh Grow Organic had a 2/5 survival rate with me. I bought 5 trees. One Utah Giant Giant cherry has survived and thrived and one Rainier cherry has survived but has more shade so has not grown as much. The other 3 (1 Bing cherry, 1 Rainier and 1 Utah Giant) did not survive. What happened was they leafed and and the leaves turned brown and fell of the tree. The common denominator was the root systems. The ones that has massive root systems survived and the ones that were heavily pruned did not survive. They had a flat rate shipping and put them all in a box so I think the more trees you buy the more some roots get pruned. I am not the only one because on Daves Garden they have a 2 star reviews with a lot saying their trees did not make it.
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I don’t graft yet but I just ordered some scions and I’m hoping to try start out with chip budding on our plum! We’ll see how it goes. I watched quite a few YouTube videos and a local friend gave me an awesome grafting book that he found helpful.
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Thanks to everyone for your input! We do have a sugar twist Pluerry as well, I just bought it from Flower World in Snohomish. I think that will pollinate Candy heart, if I read correctly.
I think I will just order from burnt Ridge and pick up at the Olympia farmers market, that is a shorter drive than going all the way out to raintree in Morton.
Devyn,
There is one more option I would recommend since you plan to learn grafting and this option would by far exceed anything you can get locally, especially if you want a variety of plums, plueery, plumcots, American, Asian, and or European on a single rootstock. You can get what is called a Puente from Fowler Nursery in Ca, the shipping is no more than the others, but you get so much more in the package. Puente, is an Adara plum growing on top of the Lovell peach rootstock. Last winter I ordered 3 from Fowler. They all arrived in top notch condition as bareroots. I potted them and kept them in my greenhouse until time to graft. I used one as a multi variety plum tree and the other two as multi variety peach, apricot trees. All three have grown fantastically and I still have a fair number of unused limbs of Adara that I can remove as scions this winter, leaving short stubs to graft on new varieties of peach and plums. The scions are the best interstems you can find for grafting some otherwise incompatible stonefruit such as cherry to peach and vice versa.
So unless you have placed an order you cannot cancel, I highly recommend you consider this option.
I see you live near Seattle, you are welcome to come see my results before you make your decision.
Dennis
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Thanks so much Dennis! I will look into this, sounds like a great option! And perhaps a visit is in order!!
Hi Devyn
The contact I used at Fowler is
Do so by contacting the Fowler Nursery:
Margherit Tilton
Sales & Inventory Manager
margherit@fowlernurseries.com
Phone: (916) 645-8191 | Fax: (916) 645-7374
You are certainly welcome to come by to see my results
Dennis
thanks I looked at what they have and I think I’ll get an early and late peach from them, an early cherry, as well as adara. I think they have everything I was looking for next season… nice of them to do small orders when it’s probably a loser for them
Well, when they are moving product to anyone they are improving reputation, so I doubt they are losing any money. But I think you will be happy with what they give you. Good luck. If you need assistance or tips on grafting I have about 3 years of mixed results, some great and some disappointing but I try to learn from my failures. Often I am surprised what works!
Dennis
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I’ve had good experiences with Burnt Ridge, they seem like the smaller guy to root for, and prices are great. I love Raintree’s selection and catalog too.
Burnt Ridge was pretty responsive this past year. They’d sold me a DWN persimmon that, years later, proved to be mislabeled. I gave them a list of stuff they stock that I’d accept for recompense, and they cordially agreed to send me a fair exchange for the value of the tree they no longer offer. They were going to cover shipping too, until I added some stuff to the order.
They also quickly, and thoughtfully, answered my questions about the variety - and think they even referred me to some pictures. They didn’t try to talk me out of my, but did provide more useful information.
They also offer scion wood, which a is a big plus in my book.
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