Kelton, there are hundreds of great nurseries out there. Arbor Day is generally NOT considered one of them (quality varies considerably, and you'll sometimes get half-dead junk). I can probably give you a list of good alternatives for most any plant you're looking for, but there are way too many possibilities to just list all good nurseries. We need to know what you are looking for.

BTW, be sure to review any nursery you are considering BEFORE sending them money. Garden Watchdog is one good resource for that. There are quite a few flim-flam operations out there masquerading as online nurseries.

I do have a fairly complete list of edible-fruit plant nurseries, if that's something you're interested in.

PlantScout is one resource for finding sources, but I have access to a few others that are frequently more helpful and set up more for horticulture business.

Well, I'm wanting to make a hedge along the road. I'll probably go with Nellie R. Stevens. A very suburban selection, I know, but I'm fond of them and they require no care.

I ordered 8 very small ones from "evergreen nurseries" (it was all they had left). That was $96 with shipping. If I wanted to make one continuous line of Nellies (formal hedge), I'd need about 55 total to cover my open area. Hopefully, they are respectable. I'll probably put them in pots and locate them in the greenhouse for a bit.

So, Pecans, Paw Paws, plums, figs, really hardy apple varieties (even if they are bit tart), pears, and any other edibles that do well here.

And would also like to find a good source for pyracanthus (for my idea for a barrier hedge).

I'd appreciate some ideas of good nurseries, Brandon!

I will probably buy the occasional larger potted stuff from the local Stanleys... unless you have other suggestions.

There is a lot of land here, so I can't afford to cover it with larger potted trees. I'm having to go with something closer to seedlings.

Nellie R. Stevens source - If you are wanting a lot of one specific type of plant (especially a fairly common one), mail-order is not the way to go, IMO. I'd go over to John Deere Landscaping on Lovell Road, or somewhere like that, and see what they'd do for you. You could also contact Kinsey Gardens over on Rutledge Pike. Kinsey is a wholesale-only place, but if you tell them that you want to do one single large purchase of a single type of plant and that you don't expect the typical warranties and customer-pampering that nurseries provide, I'm pretty sure they'll make an exception. I've seen them sell retail in this type of situation before. You could even just stop by their Rutledge Pike office and talk face-to-face, if you are in the neighborhood.

Do consider that if you go with one type of plant and install them into a long formal hedge, inevitably something will happen to one of them (disease, car wreck, whatever) and you'll end up with a snaggle-tooth look. Also, realize that Nellie R. Stevens will grow very large unless you are vigilant with pruning.

Fruiting-plant sources - Sources for Fruit Trees and Plants is my list of nearly all popular and semi-popular edible-fruit plant suppliers. Even many of the ones to avoid are listed separately at the bottom.

Pyracanthas source - ForestFarm has a good selection of these, but, like the hollies, if you want a lot of them and aren't picky about the cultivar, check with one of the local suppliers (John Deere, etc).

Small trees - Going with smaller stuff is actually a big advantage in many ways. The smaller specimens are much easier to plant, often suffer less from transplant shock, and are sometimes able to establish a much superior root system.

Incidentally, I actually have recently heard the terms "no dig gardening" and "forest gardening" which are both probably subsets of the Permaculture movement.