burnt ridge nursery, legg creek farm, plantmegreen.com, hidden spring nursery, raintree nursury, and one green world.

Tony

The quality of Adam's trees tend to be excellent- they are my main source. The nurseries listed by Tony that I've experience with tend to have smaller stock. Adam's is in PA- always good to buy from nurseries not too far from you- all things being equal.

I get trees from Adams for wholesale but buy them in bundles of 5 and always over 100 trees. I don't know if they have a retail discount when you buy individual trees in quantity.

I haven't bought from Adam's County, but they do have very good reviews at the Garden Watchdog. Their prices seem high to me at almost $30/tree. Burnt Ridge prices are half that. Their trees are also good, as long as you ask for bare root only.

For peaches I'd look at both fruittreefarm.com and Vaughn Nursery, both out of McMinnville, TN. Large selections and best prices for peach trees that you'll find. They both also have a smaller selection of pears, apples, ect.

For berries, I've purchased from Indiana Berry. Good prices and you don't have to order in bundles of five like other sellers require.

I've bought from Adams for quite a few years, everything from a few trees to over a 100.

In my opinion, the big advantage of Adams is the varieties offered. They have offered a wider selection of peach varieties, than any other nursery (at least for zone 6).

I think they are pricey though. Even their wholesale price is higher than the norm. Fruit tree farm has lower retail prices than Adams wholesale price.

One other thing I don't like about Adams is that they grow some of their trees in soils infected with crown gall. Certain of this.

Not a huge deal in my opinion, but a nursery as large as theirs should be free of it.

FYI. Fruittreefarm and Vaughn told me their latest shipment is in mid March. That's quite early for me. Some year, mid March ground is still frozen or almost. I've planted all my trees in April with no issue. You are in zone 5, you may want to take a deadline shipment date into consideration.

However, they both carry peach varieties I want. I ordered from Fruittreefarm the largest size they had (3-4 ft tall). When I got an invoice, they gave me the nex size down (2.5 ft) saying they did not have the largest size due to some damages last summer.

I wish the lady told me when I first placed my order. The tree will be here around March 10. I'll find a way to keep them alive until I can work the ground.

For peach trees, I don't think the size matters nearly as much. They grow extremely fast. The trees I planted last year were all around that size, 2.5'. They are now 7' - 8' and well branched. They will probably be the same size by the end of the growing season whether they start out at 2' or 4'.

Wow! You all are so Fantastic! I posted this on my way to my 6.5 acres we sold, packed up a trailer load of stuff, and checked back in to see 5 responses :)

We have 60 acres that will Be project central for the next 5 years while we build a home and turn it into our dream :). The first priority is planting a Bunch of deciduous/evergreens. However, I would like to get my orchard ( aka secret garden) started. I will plant much more the next 2 years, but would like to see some fruits of my labor this decade!
I am in Nebraska, so not a lot of variety locally. I have heard of a lot of the sources listed so will check all of them again :)
My main concerns are quality, price, variety (in that order).
Thanks everyone!

Well you may want to check Grandpa's Nursery too, they may sell wholesale? Unsure? All good advice here. And I myself want 2.5' peach trees, thanks for the tip. Bigger trees perform worse, take longer to adapt and don't respond well to heading cuts. My smallest tree is the fastest grower with the best structure and the most healthest looking. Far out!

I hope Olpea will chime in. He owns a peach orchard and does it for a living. He's in Kansas, just right below you.

ACN has sent me very nice trees each time (twice, with a 3rd order coming this spring). If they have it, that's the place I would go. I agree with Olpea- they are on the pricey side, so if this is an important consideration for you, check out Fruit Tree Farm and Vaughns. Both of them have great prices and selection and send out OK, but smaller trees. Grandpa's is another nursery which sent very nice trees. They also indicate the sizes available for each tree on their website, which is a big positive in my book.

From an apple selection standpoint, you can't beat Cummins. I've gotten most of my apple trees from them, as they have more of the heirloom varieties I want to try. ACN has a few heirlooms, but they focus more on things which are commercially planted.

Burnt Ridge is extremely variable. I've gotten some of my nicest trees from them. I've also gotten tiny whips. But, they are cheap and the plants have been pretty healthy, so it's not a bad place to go.

Nourse is good for berries. Another good place for berries (especially gooseberries and currants) is Rolling River Nursery.

When I first got into my business the word on Tennessee nurseries was that the trees were cheap but tiny. Is Fruit Tree Farm now offering larger stock?

To me the size of the original stock matters plenty as long as there is good root with the larger caliber- the difference in a tiny stick compared to a 3/4" caliber bare root is about an extra season to meaningful fruit, or in my case to a salable tree.

Adams peach trees have gotten smaller in the last few years but other species tend to have pretty good size.

The peach trees I've gotten from ACN in the past 2 years have ranged from 1/2" to 11/16", with 8 to 18 branches. All had consistently nice root systems.

The 5 peach trees I got from Fruit Tree Farms last spring were all around 7/16" (exactly what they advertise) and averaged 8 branches. The three plums were on the small size at 5/16", 6/16", and 7/16", compared to the advertized size (9/16"). But, they looked OK and were pretty cheap, so I didn't complain.

Two years ago, I got a couple peach trees from Vaughn's which were quite small, but also grew well. In fact one which I potted had almost 20 peaches in the 2nd leaf (I know, I should have thinned more- they weren't very sweet). The other (in ground) had only a couple peaches, but has almost caught up to the ACN trees in size.

So Harvestman, what you heard about the Tennessee nurseries is still true. But, they've grown fine, so if I was planting a lot of trees (where price would matter more), I wouldn't hesitate to order more from them.

Oophs, Olpea has already chimed in. My bad.

I agree with Bob and Olpea re.price. I love Cummins (service, selection and tree quality) and love the peach tree I got from it. But their trees are pricey.

I literally can buy 4 trees from Fruittreefarm (Cumberland Valley Nursery, same compay) comparing to one peach tree from Cummins at about the same price ( 1 PF 24C from Cummins for $53 vs. 3 Winblo and an Old Henry from Fruittreefarm for $51.20).

I'm inclined to think I'll need to wait one extra year for TN trees to catch up and produce. My soil is on a poor side.

I have to laugh about the gooseberries! We have about 10 acres of solid trees/gooseberries. I have decidee I need to figure out what else to do other than gooseberry pie! You would think that would stop me from "thinking" about planting other varieties though :)
Now to decide where to actually get some orchard trees from this year! I do want to get more heirlooms, but for now just want to get started with some basics, so I may just order from Vaughn as their pricing seems pretty good for a quick order. I also like that I could get a few dwarf trees from them for quicker fruiting :).
I had 6 apples and 3 peaches at our other acreage....they were just starting to bear. The peach trees had 100 peaches on them this spring...too bad my kids harvested all them the beginning of June :( I also planted about 200 asparagus...they would've been really yummy this summer! Oh Well...now I get to start all over where I really want to stay!

nostalgicfarm,

Same thing for me except I have not moved yet, or even found a place, but since the kids left, this big house is expensive to maintain, the taxes are high in this very productive county, and so it makes sense to move on.
The next county north is more rural and beautful. On the east side bordering Lake Huron. Our goal is to move within five years. A few things have to be done to the house. And I have local business to conduct, living here while that's going on makes sense. i'm hoping to do them within 2 years. but we will see. I'm approaching 60, and a pain to start over, as nothing is geting easier to do.
You're lucky you're almost there. Although i see you have kids and such, and are probably younger. No regrets though this house is great, if I could i would stay.

Drew51- Yes, I have 3 little ones still, so planning a house that will work when they move out will be a little difficult. We will see, there are always grandkids! Hopefully I will have a lot of time to enjoy the work we put into this place, and one or more of my kids can enjoy when they send us to a retirement home to eat jello and play bingo :).

"Cummins (service, selection and tree quality) and love the peach tree I got from it. But their trees are pricey."

Mamuang,

I know what you mean. I ordered a couple plum trees from them for this spring and the total was $88 (incl. shipping).

" The other (in ground) had only a couple peaches, but has almost caught up to the ACN trees in size."

I see the same thing with my peaches Bob.

Tom Callahan at Adams once told me orchards planted with smaller peach trees look the same as orchards planted with larger trees, after a couple years. Even peach trees started out as a grafted buds are the same size as purchased trees in my orchard, though they were planted at the same time.

I don't find this to be true of apples, plums, or cherries, in which larger size generally gives them a head start.

Olpea, I believe the difference in start time between peaches and the other species you mention would be entirely based on the brittleness of peach roots that tend to get torn up when dug out of the nursery. Same thing happens to pears.

That is why I included root volume with caliber when I discussed the merit of larger trees. I often transplant peach trees, carefully extracting as much root as possible, after sizing them up for a couple of years. When transplanted these trees barely skip a beat and can bear crops the first season transplanted. I have stopped using in-ground bags and pots for peach trees in my nursery because this works so well.

Bas van dan Ende once published an article in Good Fruit Grower about using a similar technique in commercial peach orchards, sizing up trees first in an on site nursery to keep more land in production during the ongoing process of replanting old trees. He showed how this allowed instant production from newly replaced rows.

I have received large peach trees from nurseries with 1" caliber trunks that are 2" caliber, well branched 10' tall specimens after the first season of growth when given adequate space, good soil, and ample water.

Granted, I'm in the northeast with its relatively short growing season in context of where peaches are grown and also granted, I haven't scientifically studied the overall difference in size of trees I grow of various caliber in the second and third year after being planted but I'm pretty confident of my anecdotal evaluation- larger caliber peach trees tend to establish more quickly than smaller ones for me.

" When transplanted these trees barely skip a beat and can bear crops the first season transplanted."

I think a distinction should be made of what comes out of your nursery, and what is shipped out of a typical commercial nursery.

It's very rare to see a peach tree from a large commercial nursery bear fruit first year from the largest trees I've received (3/4 or possibly 7/8) and when I have, it's only been one or two fruit.

I do agree it's possible to get significant crops of peaches from first year trees. I've read some growers have special contracts with nurseries to grow large feathered trees to be planted in high density plantings, so harvest can begin first season. So I could see where peach trees sized up in your nursery, and carefully dug, could bear instantly.

In practice, for most people who buy from commercial nurseries (like me) large peach trees have few to no live buds on the lower trunk (where scaffold selection should occur for open center scaffolds) and the root structure isn't impressive.

For those trees, I haven't seen they give a head start.

I think part of the reason smaller peach trees catch up to larger ones in many orchards is because they are pruned more aggressively, compared to other fruit trees.

For example, you mentioned larger peach trees are capable of reaching 10' first season. I would not let a peach tree grow that tall first season on an open center system. That extra growth would be pruned off in the summer to try to divert more energy into first year scaffolds. Although not the intention, pruning the larger trees that way allows the smaller ones to catch up a bit.

I understand you prune differently on your sites because of deer. In that case I don't doubt the larger trees bear earlier and stay ahead of the smaller ones for a longer period of time.

To 2nd what Bob and others have said, I purchased 4 peach trees a year ago from Fruit Tree Farm, they were probably around 1/2 caliper little sticks but boy did they grow for me, now, before pruning they are 5 to 7 feet tall and I will be harvesting peaches on all of them this summer.

My dilemma now it that I just planted an Oldmixon Free peach tree from Vintage Virginia Apples that is 3/4" and over 4 feet, but the branching all starts over 2 feet and I am not sure if I will kill the tree by giving it the knee high cut, I would feel better about the chances if the tree were not so large.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oldmixon Free

When I hear about harvestman's great transplant success I always think of that picture he posted a few years of a tree he dug up. It had about triple the root volume of the typical dug up tree, pretty amazing. So, I think the main problem with older trees is if you didn't get it from harvestman you get the same amount of viable root in the package as with a smaller tree, and so a lot of "beats are skipped" at transplant time.

Chris, I used to cut all my peaches at 2' and they would bud out fine. But these days I accept branches a bit higher, partly for the better deer resistance but also the fact that I don't notice much difference on the mature trees. If there are no branches until 3' I would turn it into a stick, but if the branches are 2-3' I would keep them.

Scott

Sounds like good advice Scott, thanks for the reply, I killed 2 peach trees last winter by cutting them back to 18" at planting and don't want to take that chance with this one.

Scott, thanks- the way I'm working my nursery now, it's no great trick to pull up lots of root. I spread the roots out pretty shallow over a sheet of thin plastic- well the plastic is covered with some soil and then the roots spread over. The roots go out instead of down and my soil is pretty light so with a cultivating fork, a heavy spade and patience, we can pull up a lot of the root.

The trees I'm talking about here are not one's from my nursery but from ACN and all the other nurseries I get my trees from wholesale before sizing them up for resale. Here my experience has been larger diameter trees generally get bigger faster if they are planted early and mulched or irrigated. I'm surprised to hear Olpea, you and others haven't had the same experience.

My husband and I have been planting an orchard in northwest Indiana over the past 3 years and continuing. The companies we prefer to buy trees - peaches, apples, apricots, cherries, plums and pears from are Cummins Nursery and Schlabach's Nursery (Amish). Both nurseries are located in New York. The stock from both companies is outstanding. I particularly like the apple trees from Cummins and the cherry trees from Schlabachs but you canâÂÂt go wrong with any variety from either company. The trees that are shipped from both companies were fantastic and it almost looks like Schlabachs hand digs the trees (not sure though). Considering the 2 year drought our young trees have done pretty darn well.
Cummins website is not too exciting but they will respond with a helpful email to any question you have and their guide to prune your new trees upon receipt and planting is my absolute go to guide (I prune extremely heavily per their instruction). Unfortunately since Schlabachs is Amish they donâÂÂt have a website but you can get their catalog. If I have questions I address and stamp an envelope for them and they will respond that way. Schlabachs also has berries and other fruits which IâÂÂve ordered and the stock again was outstanding, you get huge plants. Although Cummins site has berries listed they discontinued sending other fruit plants. If youâÂÂre looking for the lowest prices for great stock then you should check out Schlabachs ��" so incredibly inexpensive and they bundle trees.
Mailing Address:
2784 Murdock Rd
Medina, New York 14103 (United States)
Phone: no phone orders--Amish
Paper Catalog Cost: $2.00
WeâÂÂve also ordered from ACN but the stock died, however, IâÂÂm ordering from them again just because they had varieties that I wanted. I blame that on the drought. I order a lot of unusual trees and shrubs from One Green World and Raintree and some from Edible Landscaping and Hidden Gardens; IâÂÂm very happy with the plants that IâÂÂve received. For some reason many of my plants from Burnt Ridge died so I donâÂÂt order from them anymore. I like to buy jujubes, persimmons and nuts from England Orchard although I havenâÂÂt had too much luck growing persimmons. As far as persimmons go IâÂÂm a persistent planter and have ordered persimmon trees from multiple vendors just to get them to grow!!! So many of them grow below the graph or just die and I have no idea what the heck IâÂÂm doing wrong. The owner at England Orchard is super nice too if you ask questions via email. In fact he actually offered to come by to see whatâÂÂs up with my persimmon treesâ¦that is if he lived closer to Indiana.

Kwick,

Hope you have better luck with your persimmon this spring.

I'd call Schlabach to request a catalog at (866) 600 5203, quicker than mail. Just leave your name and address. When I called for the first time a few years ago, he did not even charge me for a catalog.

Sometimes, when I call later in the day, I get someone to answer my call. In addition to quality of their trees and the price, I appreciate their honesty. I got refund and replacement without any hassle.

I like Cummins a lot, too. I just wish their price could be lower!

I can also give a thumbs up for Schlabachs Nursery. In addition to producing good nursery stock, they have several varieties and their prices are quite reasonable. I have had good luck in getting a hold of someone via phone to discuss questions. Last spring, I called them to ensure they shipped at a specific time, and they accomodated my request. They are also replacing a failed planting for free with no hassle, similar to mamuang. This is a good place to check out prior to making your order for spring, I know I have been pleasantly surprised.

Nourse gets two big thumbs up...the Jewel Black Raspberries I ordered had roots so full and dense you could mop a dirty floor! Needless to say, all of my berry plants flourished.

Nostalgicfarm, where in NE is your new place? Im in Furnas county.

I ordered and paid for 100 Montmorency on mahaleb from Waflers last spring. In Nov they sent my money back saying they couldn't complete the order. Adams county took the order, so we will see what they look like. They said 3/8's is all they have, but they priced them just over $6 each......Its pretty small, but I couldn't find anyone else with any last minute like that. I wont order from waflers again, that's for sure.
I did order about 30 other trees from adams and the prices were $9-13 depending on royalties and variety.

I ordered over 100 other trees from stark, but they didn't have regular monts on mahaleb or I would have ordered all from them.

I, along with a few family members, are delving into growing our own fruit trees - mostly for our own personal use but also for the deer... We are going to be ordering from Adams County Nursery - they are close to us location wise and have a good variety of trees we want. They are not able to give us an indication of the cost of shipping prior to packaging the order. We are ordering between 25 and 30 trees. I am wondering if anyone who has ordered from them can give me an idea of what the shipping cost might be. I am in Northeast PA - a little under 200 miles away from their location. If anyone has any input, it is appreciated! Thanks!

Why not just ask them, they have there own deals with shippers and ought to be able to provide a pretty close estimate by now- shipping to your zone is only about 45 days away if winter dials down.

I e-mail them questions like that regularly and they always get back within a couple of days.

we have already called them to ask that question and they told us they couldn't tell us or even give an estimate until the entire order was all boxed up. just trying to get a better idea for budgeting ...

I looked up last years freight charges on 25 trees to KS. It was 27 dollars. I ordered the trees small though (3/8") which would make a difference vs. larger/heavier trees.

I've ordered from them quite a few times and they've always been very fair on freight.

Since wind can be a big factor in Nebraska and Kansas you might consider buying peaches etc. that are one zone hardier than yours. We live in zone 5 but at times are more zone 4 or 6 depending on the year. Initially we purchased Reliance peaches from Gurneys for several reasons 1.) they now have a lifetime warranty (at the time 1 yr) and all peaches we tried previously died. 2.) reliance are zone 4 and relatively dependable 3.) despite all the bad things I've heard about gurneys anything doa from them they have always replaced or refunded by my choice but never until the next spring or fall. All that being said I'm not trying to tell you to buy from gurneys or Henry fields or any other company that is part of that group . I did a deal they had that year where you bought $200 of trees from them for $100 and at that time that was 10 trees total so $10 per tree. 75 percent of the trees lived and we had to pull peaches off by the second year. The trees now 12 years later are still going strong despite our very harsh windy, cold,hot , stormy environment. Now we grow other peaches as well such as contender and flat wonderful which at he time were not available to us. The above mentioned companies are all fantastic companies and most have a great guarantee but before I buy anything I find out what the warranty is. We tried to grow peaches here such as bell of Georgia, hale haven etc and they died. Come to find out many nurseries use nemaguard rootstock instead of Lovell or a similar rootstock hardy to Nebraska , Kansas, Iowa etc. We began many years grafting our own fruit trees because it's cheaper and we know the rootstock and scion wood. I should mention all the 25 percent that died in that order were sweet cherries and plums but not peaches or pears.

I've never had to pay shipping for ACN, as my orders were under 25. My shipping costs from Cummins (a similar distance to me, as ACN is to you) have been $35 and $40 for shipments of 15 and 20 trees. The trees I ordered were larger than Olpea's, often feathered or 9/16" to 11/16+. At a guess, I'd say yours will be $50-$60, if you got mostly larger trees.

CalarikKS,
I don't think a lifetime warranty is needed. I figure if a tree dies after the first year, then I'm probably to blame. The only guarantee past the first year I would want is if the tree isn't the right type, which you will likely find out only when it fruits. Most nurseries will reship/refund if the plant doesn't leaf out or if it is not the right cultivar.

It is more important is to get quality plants, so that you aren't in a position of having to get replacements. A 25% failure rate sounds pretty bad to me. I've ordered >120 fruit trees and had only 4 fail to leaf out (spread across 2 orders).

25% does sound bad, but I would expect near 100% for cherries and plums in zone 5 if the wrong cultivars. It's a much tougher zone than 6! I ordered three trees from a top 5 hardy fruit tree nursery and the cherry died, that's 33% failure rate. From a Garden Watch nursery yet.

Jag-I am in the Omaha/Lincoln area.
Clarkin- We are moving from Windy Acres to not so windy acres! I think Gurneys is fine, but I need a lot more than 10 trees so price is a big factor. If Gurneys has a sale like that, great, but I like to order from places that I can do a lot of repeat business. Quality and Variety are a huge factor. I really don't think I would order large trees like that from a place if I had 25% failure unless I just didn't water them at all. I have too much to plant to replant 1/4 of everything.
Thanks everyone!

Unfortunately Kansas weather can be pretty unforgiving. Pears , peaches and apples frequently have 100 percent success rate if they are the right varieties. The problem as I mentioned before is that not everything that says it's zone 5 actually is hardy enough to survive here. Maybe it makes it though a warm winter and dies the next by no fault of the grower. 75 percent loss are acceptable losses in my opinion. I tried growing sea berries and they all died but the same year all my grapes lived. If I only planted zone 4 pears I would get 100 percent success.