Pathetic looking fruit trees sold at Home Depot in West Sacramento. Also found in WalMart and even at CostCo. This is plant cruelty and it happens if minimum waged employees don’t know anything about fruit trees. And sometimes it depends upon the consignment arrangement, especially if the stores aren’t liable for the health of the trees in their custody. In some big box stores where an employee is knowledgeable about plants, they’ll have good looking trees, but it is rare for me to find such stores, not within our area though. If you want good looking trees, visit local nurseries rather than big box stores. Even if you pay higher price, you won’t regret the expertise they’ll share with you in caring for the trees. Their trees are also of very good quality. Big box stores, even at Costco, is often by chance for quality trees. The trees might be good looking at the moment but a week later after planting it would shrivel or remain stunted for years!
our stores seem to do really good at taking care of the plants. The varieties that they get in is what sucks big time. No one wants red delicious. this year they got real lazy. Ive seen several Plums called “early” or “late”. That must be what happens when they really have no idea what type it is.
I have one nursery that gets the same citrus every year and they never sell. I told them that the people who buy these types of trees already have a meyer lemon. Get in something different and they will sell. I was told we will talk to the purchaser about it. Wait and see what shows up.
That’s a sad looking Avocado hehe.
I’ve been lucky on occasion with Costco. For example, I got a nice 3 gal Bearrs Lime tree for $12.00 at the end of the season, and it’s thrived. Although I know what you mean most times.
They don’t treat their vegetables much better. I’m sure there is some business rationale for why they try to sell tomatoes, peppers and basil in March, but I feel as if they are simply setting up new gardeners for failure.
My experience is kinda different. My local HD always seems to have healthy plants. The only problem is they are highly inappropriate varieties like this one (http://www.davewilson.com/product-information-commercial/product/arctic-rose-white-nectarine). 900-1000 chill hours requirement is way too much. And for citrus there is very little variety. Although I did score a Kishu Mandarin once.
i would love for someone to get that one. I need more high chill varieties. Most peaches and plums have flowered here by now and Last night we had a freeze. Potentially could have a hard freeze in a few days.
Oftentimes, the Big Box stores have lots of few varieties rather than few of a lot of varieties, as it would be cheaper for them to manage and have bigger discounts the bigger the order of each cultivar.
That makes sense but getting the same ones every year seems dumb when by late may they are discounting them because barely any are selling. I wish they would learn.
I bought my first fruit tree from Home Depot years before getting into growing fruit and having no knowledge on what to do with it. It is some unnamed peach that I got on clearance for $1. The tree was about two feet high and thinner than a pencil and in completely dry soil. My wife and I both thought of Charlie Brown’s XMas tree and felt bad enough that we purchased it. I put it in a new pot, then planted it, then dug it up and put it back in another pot, which for an entire year never left a screened in back porch. I then planted it in a bad spot.
Last year that tree gave us over 100 perfect organic peaches.
I was looking for strawberries at a local nursery and they had them - labeled Junebearing and Everbearing
Fortunately I was able to track down knowledgeable person who could tell me what the varieties actually were
We don’t have a lot of local nurseries. Maybe a few with few trees and sometimes those are fly-by-night business that buy a bunch of stuff to sell off through the spring summer season. Our Lowe’s store has decent plants and there are always someone out taking care of them. I did find some veggies there that were half dead and because I could get no discount I left them there to die. But as a rule they take much better care of their plants than Walmart. (I actually reported Walmart to the home company one time and received some feedback from the manager at the local store. It made a slight difference for a short time.). Employees don’t care about plants and don’t know the first thing about taking care of them. The problem here is that the suppliers will pick up the dying plants and give the store credit for them. They do not have to take care of them and do not lose money by not doing so. I have problems looking at those plants and trees that come to the store beautiful and leave in a shopping cart full of dried up plants that would best be served in a compost heap.
Katy
what sad is when i go to one of these stores that has dozens of trees for z5-6 and we’re in z 3b! no chance they would survive here so at the end of planting season their dumpsters are full of these unsold trees! what a waste!
Selection and suppliers vary quite a bit. A few years ago the local Costco got in really nice trees (apples, pears, peaches and plums), rootstock labeled, variety named with accurate details on the tree. I picked up a few. Last few years they get the same “stuff” that other big box stores carry, no variety info (other than red apple, yellow peach), no rootstock or zone info. Not too many people are buying them and the display shrinks every year. I guess they are slow learners…
Same here, and much of the problem is that they are on rootstock that is definitely not hardy.
Part of this years poor showing was in part due to the Nor’Easter’s which brought wind and distruction everwhere.
Home Depots in Maine have gotten their fruit trees in & 80% of them are “Frankentrees” with 4 different varieties of fruit grafted on to one tree (apples, pears, plums, peaches). They look horrible.
Citrus buyers beware: Every big box store I’ve been to recently has citrus trees that are actively infected with asian citrus psyllids. I took this photo a couple days ago:
Probably says less about the incompetence of the store, and more about the severity of the psyllid problem though 
Same here in Florida. Shame when people tell me they can’t grow anything here because they planted big box things not zoned for Here.
Good for you. No point in them adding to Mt. Garbage. 
I’ve seen so many mentions of cheap Costco trees. I’m jealous, local Costco has never had fruit trees here! Maybe I should write them a letter. .