Adams County Nursery in Aspers PA may be less than an hour from you depending on where you actually live. There are many people on here that would say its the best place on the eastern side of the United States. There is another good one pretty close to there as well called Boyer Nursery. Why are you giving up on online? Who have you used?

Hi Abe, Here is one you might check out and a lovely drive on a Saturday. (Excuse to overeat at Shady Maple before heading home) Amish Folk, closed on Sunday, open 7:30am to dusk M-F, Sat til 5pm, will answer the phone from 6-8pm 717-687-8861

White Oak Nursery
Amos Fisher
2515 White Oak Road
Strasburg, PA 17579

I bought some nice bare roots from them and come fall you can taste what they grow. For what it's worth...
Chad

Foolishpleasure,

I've followed a couple threads where you've mentioned your disappointment in on-line nurseries.

I'm having difficulty understanding this. I've probably ordered over 100 trees from online nurseries and never had a one that was shipped dead. I've lost several trees to drowning because our water table is so close to the surface and our Spring rains so heavy, but the trees have always arrived alive and healthy.

If you've had widespread failure from multiple nurseries, you may want to consider that something else is negatively affecting your trees.

If you have been ordering from places with good garden watchdog ratings I think olpea is correct. I have mail-ordered from ACN and White Oak for example, and if you drive there you will get pretty much the same tree I was getting. That said, both are excellent outfits and if you have the time it is always better to go yourself to talk in-person with them. If you are going to drive I would go to White Oak, it is a small operation and you will probably be able to directly discuss things with the owner. They have some rules on when they accept visitors so make sure you have an appointment first.

Scott

Some people are lucky and some are not. I guess I am in the second group. Nothing negatively affecting my trees. I have good soil and I follow the planting instruction to the letter. Not over or under watered not over or under fertilized. I planted 8 Apricot trees I bought four from on line nursery called Willis or some thing close to that, the other four I picked them by myself from NC when I was on Vacation. The NC trees are healthy lots of bloom and every tree has over 200 flowers the other did come out from dormancy yet and I don't know if they are dead or alive.
I ordered two fig trees from online they arrived alive about 6 inches each cost plus shipping $20 each. While I was travelling in PA I saw a sign for FIG farm I stopped by and asked if I can buy some trees. The lady told me she has only one tree remaining for sale 6 feet tall brown turkey in a pot thanks god I have a big SUV. I was so surprised when the lady told me $19 when I asked her how much I owe you. This tree after five weeks has shade and it will produce delicious Fig this season.
Any body who is lucky and satisfied by Online nurseries good for you and you have no argument from me. Thans to all who gave me names for local nurseries I printed the list and I am in business. My Family calls me a Tree Nut they are right.

Willis does not have a good reputation. It unfortunate that you are basing your opinion of all online sellers based on that experience. There are some really bad ones out there i know, I started my orchard using Autumn Ridge Nursery because of the cheap prices, but it was a total rip off. Over the past 3 years I have discovered that there is a world of difference between some of these places. Seeing how Adams county is so close to you I cant blame you for driving there if thats where you decide to buy but dont rule out other places that may not be within driving distance if they have the varieties that you want. Just do some research on the company before you buy. A quick goggle search of "The scoop...." followed by the name of the company will get you where you need to be.

I've ordered from Gurneys, Burnt Ridge, Jungs, Raintree, etc etc... I've had one tree that didn't make it and I got a replacement.