# Where do I buy a good fruit tree



## w1651 (Feb 16, 2016)

I'm not sure where to put this thread so I thought here would be fine. 

I am looking for a site or tree farm that is reasonable to get fruit trees and root stocks. A orchard that sells them would work as well. The only sights I can find are above 20 dollars a tree and a very young tree at that. 
If they sell Scion wood that would be a plus, and A fruit farm with cuttings will work too.

Thank You in advance.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

If you could clarify your question in regards to your location, the type of tree you want, and if you want to buy certified organic stock, you might have better luck in getting some answers. Bare root catalog trees will run you twenty dollars of more, these days, and there may be shipping charges, too. Your local tree nursery or garden center might be able to advise you, too. Some of the better ones might surprise you. A good garden center owner may well be a college horticultural graduate.....

geo


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

Geo has good advice. Look for a nursery that would have trees acclimated to the same area you live in. I order allmost all my fruit trees from Stark Bros, they are in Missouri. I have had very good luck with their trees and they give very good service. Their trees aren't cheap, but sometimes you get what you pay for.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Now would be a good time to scout out local orchards to see about scions. See if they'll call you mid-winter when they begin pruning and be sure they know what varieties are what.

You are a little late for scouting fruit trees at old homesteads or roadsides, for scions. The fruit is gone by now, so you can't taste test anything.

I've bought thousands of rootstocks and done a lot of grafting. It is a lot of work. But in my harsh climate, semi-dwarf or dwarf don't do well and it has become harder to find nurseries that still sell apple trees on standard size rootstock. I have bought most of my rootstocks from Lawyer Nursery, Plains, MT. but they are a wholesale nursery and have larger quantities and a minimum order. Get your friends to share an order and save.

I think if you are wanting trees on the cheap, under $20, you'll be grafting onto any existing trees you might have or buying rootstocks and grafting. Time is money, money is time.


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## Ellendra (Jul 31, 2013)

haypoint said:


> I've bought thousands of rootstocks and done a lot of grafting. It is a lot of work. But in my harsh climate, semi-dwarf or dwarf don't do well and it has become harder to find nurseries that still sell apple trees on standard size rootstock.


St Lawrence specializes in cold-hardy trees: https://stlawrencenurseries.com/


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Ellendra said:


> St Lawrence specializes in cold-hardy trees: https://stlawrencenurseries.com/


Nice catalog, nice people, but nothing under $20.


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## w1651 (Feb 16, 2016)

Let me Clarify. I am looking this week as a matter of fact at property in the upper New Hampshire Area. I was wanting older heirloom varieties like Baldwin and Black oxford that were first raised in the area. I know of a few apple orchards in the area and one in particular has lots of heirloom varieties. I will be moving to the homestead at a later date and would like to have all my fruit trees established when I do about 5 years down the road.
Graphting with Scion wood is my choice of planting sice root stock and time are not a problem right now.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

duplicate posting


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

You may have tried this site already: treesofantiquity.com

geo


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

w1651 said:


> Let me Clarify. I am looking this week as a matter of fact at property in the upper New Hampshire Area. I was wanting older heirloom varieties like Baldwin and Black oxford that were first raised in the area. I know of a few apple orchards in the area and one in particular has lots of heirloom varieties. I will be moving to the homestead at a later date and would like to have all my fruit trees established when I do about 5 years down the road.
> Graphting with Scion wood is my choice of planting sice root stock and time are not a problem right now.


You, or anyone with grafting skills can get just about any apple variety scions from the government. 
https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80600500/ClonalCatalogs/2016/MCatalog16.pdf

You'll need to figure out what size trees you want and select the proper rootstock. Some favor wet soil, some withstand super cold, etc.


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## GardenGekko (Jan 31, 2013)

What rootstock do you want to use?

I haven't found better deals locally than the mail order places, and I believe quality is typically worse. That could be a function of where I live however...I ordered my first batch of trees from Cummins nursery in Ithaca. Very high quality and great to deal with. About $25 per tree. Huge variety of heirloom, European cider as well as modern varieties. I have another batch coming this spring from trees of antiquity. They are more expensive but only place I could find all the varieties I still wanted on mm111. All future trees will be grafted, on rootstock I will propagate myself. Otherwise it does become expensive when you're planting dozens or hundreds of trees. 

I would caution you that it is challenging to start an orchard remotely. I'm doing it right now so have some experience. I have a well on site. if I hadn't had one, I don't think it would have been feasible.


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## kyweaver (Nov 30, 2009)

Century Farms sells heirloom apple trees, though they do focus on Southern varieties. We ordered from them last year and the service and quality were wonderful. Five trees totaled $90.
Fruit Tree Farm in TN has apple, plum, and peach trees for $9 -$15. Again, the focus is on more southern varieties, but you might still find something. I haven't ordered from them yet.


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## goodatit (May 1, 2013)

KYWEAVER: would you happen to know the name and address of fruit tree grower in tennesee? thanks for your help.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

w1651 said:


> Let me Clarify. I am looking this week as a matter of fact at property in the upper New Hampshire Area. I was wanting older heirloom varieties like Baldwin and Black oxford that were first raised in the area. I know of a few apple orchards in the area and one in particular has lots of heirloom varieties. I will be moving to the homestead at a later date and would like to have all my fruit trees established when I do about 5 years down the road.
> Graphting with Scion wood is my choice of planting sice root stock and time are not a problem right now.


I would check out Fedco seeds (Fedco.com). They were one of our major seed suppliers during our market garden days. they also carry many organic and old variety fruit trees . Their catalog is a joy to read.


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## kyweaver (Nov 30, 2009)

goodatit said:


> KYWEAVER: would you happen to know the name and address of fruit tree grower in tennesee? thanks for your help.


Well, it was fruittreefarm.com, but it's not showing up now. It was a sideline business for the owner. Maybe he's gone out of business. Sorry to get your hopes up! I was going to order from them next year!

Edited t to add: I did find their review here,http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/7760/#b but the link is dead. At least I know I didn't imagine them!


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

http://www.starkbros.com/

Bought all my trees from Stark Brothers.
One died.
They immediately replaced it, and gave me a credit.

I also bought my grape vines and raspberry bushes; they too were prolific. 
Amazing trees, Amazing customer service


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> http://www.starkbros.com/
> 
> Bought all my trees from Stark Brothers.
> One died.
> ...


I have ordered many from Stark Bros as well. Yes, excellent service, but a replacement as well as a credit... I have not received that? I have received ONE TIME replacements, no questions asked. You DO pay extra for this service, and I understand that.

They all say good for this growing zone....but this soil type? OR....they grow, but no one says likely to bear......I also understand that?

I experiment, but nothing is totally guaranteed. Some have required shipping back the dead palnt. others have required just a picture.


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## Beltane (Nov 27, 2005)

Have you looked at https://www.fedcoseeds.com/trees/ ? Amazing company - and I know they have Black Oxford, etc. I'm also in NH by the way.


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## SmokeEater2 (Jan 11, 2010)

I've ordered from these folks in the past and will again this year. Good quality trees and they have a LOT of hard to find varieties. 20 bucks a tree and they also sell scion wood.

Tough to find a decent fruit tree under $20 from what I've seen, But on the bright side you're paying for something that will outlive you. Not many purchases will give you that type of return on your money.

http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

*raintreenursery.com*


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## i8paintchips (Feb 27, 2016)

I prefer Willis Orchard but I pay a little more for the bigger trees.
www.willisorchards.com


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

http://www.maplevalleyorchards.com/pages/home.aspx

While they do not have any apple trees available this year, they have quality trees and hundreds of varieties, mostly heritage. Good description of each variety.


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## Beulah_Land (Mar 24, 2014)

I encourage you to do some homework researching local nurseries. I am not far from McMinnville, TN which is the nursery capital of the country. Very often, Stark Brothers, Gurney, etc...purchase their stock from these nurseries, adding a significant markup to the trees they sell. 

This is one I use:

http://www.warrencountynursery.com

You won't likely purchase mail order from them unless you are buying a lot of trees.

The other advantage of using a local nursery is that their stock will likely be better suited for your climatic conditions.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Few local nurseries grow their own, many simply purchase bare root trees and pot them up for sale once they leaf out.

Most of the apple varieties that are commonly known (like the ones you can buy in the stores) require regular applications of insecticides. Some heritage varieties and a couple newer varieties are resistant to fungus, disease and a bit of insect resistance. 

Or you can just eat around the fly eggs and worms.


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## Mike c (Mar 11, 2017)

Also in NH and I have been very happy with Van Well nursery for orders of 50 or more, the prices are bwtween 8.50-10 per tree for 3/4" caliper. I am getting my spring order with 15 Baldwins (among others) for 8.90/tree.
http://www.vanwell.net/sales/commercial-us-price-list

Another option is Maine's Scion Swap exchange in 2 weeks. Fedco will be there selling rootstock and people bring scionwood and they have free grafting lessons. This is also a great way to get some heritage varieties.
http://www.mofga.org/Events/SeedSwapScionExchange/tabid/301/Default.aspx


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## pointsevenout (Nov 29, 2017)

goodatit said:


> KYWEAVER: would you happen to know the name and address of fruit tree grower in tennesee? thanks for your help.


Scott's Orchard. Their buildings are in Alabama but the orchard is in Tennessee. All kinds of varietes of apples and peaches and maybe other stuff I'm unaware of. They are right on the border, north and west of Huntsville, Al.


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## ThistleMary (Mar 29, 2013)

I've had good luck with tytyga.com; they offer a full one year guarantee on trees, and have honored that guarantee when I sent them a photo of the dead tree (giving me a credit for a new tree). Inexpensive way to increase your homestead orchard if you are looking at a 2-3 year window before fruit production is needed.

On the other hand, the fruit trees I bought from fastgrowingtrees.com (while more expensive), were hardier and larger, and produce earlier. 

Like someone said, you get what you pay for.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

1/4 inch thick rootstocks $2.35 each raintree nursery.
1/4 inch thick rootstocks $1.22 each when you buy 100. lawyer nursery


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

I really want to learn how to graft fruit trees. It seems so intimidating though


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

I've had real good luck with Starkbros. 

If you're going to order online I'd suggest finding one that grows them in a climate that is close yours. I did order some cherry trees that all died and the replacements died. I thought they were a cold climate grower but found out after the first trees arrived they were in Georgia. Too much of a shock to survive.

WWW


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

LittleRedHen said:


> I really want to learn how to graft fruit trees. It seems so intimidating though


MSU Extension has done trainings, check with them. It is about that time to graft.


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## LittleRedHen (Apr 26, 2006)

haypoint said:


> MSU Extension has done trainings, check with them. It is about that time to graft.


I did not know that. Thank you for letting me know! I am in the process of moving so I will work on that for next year  I am working with a blank slate and lots of places for new fruit trees


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

LittleRedHen said:


> I did not know that. Thank you for letting me know! I am in the process of moving so I will work on that for next year  I am working with a blank slate and lots of places for new fruit trees


 Not too late. There is a free training on bridge grafting, done mainly to repair rodent damaged trees. Coming up in a week.
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/bridge_grafting_for_commercial_tree_fruit_workshop


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## ldc (Oct 11, 2006)

I'm in Baton Rouge, and there is a green early summer apple around here (climate like much of East Texas, zone 8b) with great flavor, but not locally sold anywhere I've looked. Sorry I don't have a name for it. I


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## anniew (Dec 12, 2002)

Today I picked up three pre-ordered peach trees that look great. The Conservation District for our county has a tree/shrub sale each spring as a fund raiser for special programs. Check your local district and get on the list for next year's listing.


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

We went to a local (well an hour & 1/2 away) nursery. I wanted to buy good trees that I knew would grow in my tough environment.


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## Clybrad (May 3, 2018)

I have gotten a lot of plants and trees from fast growing trees. Plus when they send you the tree it has a reusable zip tie on it! 

Other than that I have just gone with local nurseries and box stores (tractor supply and Lowe’s mainly).


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Dave's Garden .com has a Watchdog area that rates most of the catalogs. Many people go by their recommendation, including me. Please check it out before you buy from anywhere. It may save you some heartache.


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