McMinnville is the 'nursery capital of the world' - you oughta be able to find whatever you want much closer than somewhere down in GA.
That said, mail-order bareroot fruit trees are pretty much the industry standard, and there are numerous reputable mail-order nurseries; I'd be willing to bet shipping costs will be less than the gas you'd have to buy to drive to GA -or maybe even to McMinnville.
I'm sure brandon7 will be along soon to post a link to his list of nurseries, and others may weigh in with recommendations, as well.
Might help if you give us an idea of what you're considering planting - some nurseries have better selections of apples, pears, stonefruits, etc. than others.

I try to do most of my ordering on the West Coast so my trees don't have to travel so far, so my recommendations wouldn't be much use to you.

I've taken recommendations from Garden Web, but I also always check The Garden Watchdog to see if a mail order company has customer complaints.

Hidden Springs Nursery, in Cookeville - wide selection of fruit trees; list of different types of fruiting plants is extensive, though the selection in each species is limited - but they're varieties that have proven themselves to 'work' in middle TN.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hidden Springs Nursery

I agree w/ Lucky.

I order trees from all over the U.S. and the shipping is generally b/t 10-15 dollars. Cost wise that's about 40 miles of vehicle expense (not counting time involved).

Heck 14hrs. round trip is over $300 in transportation costs ($0.40/mile).

Only thing to cause me to travel that far is a good woman.

Thanks all....some good info so far. McMinnville is actually only 40 miles from my home....I can't find anything on the web about farms there but I may just take a drive and poke around this afternoon.

PS>Shipping on the number of trees I was planning on ordering was going to come to about $375. I figured gas was only going to cost about $175. As for my time....I am semi retired at 40 years old so I have the time to drive!

PPS> I already have a good woman so no need to drive for that!

$375 in shipping is a heck of a lot of trees for a home orchard.

I ordered 20 trees for the 2011 growing season from 5 different nurseries. Total shipping for all trees was less than 75 bucks.

This has nothing to do w/ fruit, but I figure 40 cents/mile for my vehicle costs. Vehicles, if purchased new, depreciate about 20 grand over the first 100K miles. That's 20 cents/mile. Gas runs 13 to 15 cents. Maintenance runs 3 to 5 cents(tires, oil, timing belt, etc.) Total comes to about 40 cents/mile. As anyone knows, there are ways to cheat it a bit - buying a low mile vehicle when a big chunk of depreciation is gone, driving a vehicle that will go a couple 100K w/ no major repairs(Toyotas used to, I don't know if the new ones will) or driving junk. I've driven junk before, and hate having to do it. I like a vehicle to start when I turn the key.

I've got a good woman at home here too, and she's the one who occasionally cajoles me into long road trips!

Did you ever find a good nursery? I live in Nashville and I'd love to find a place that sells dwarf citrus trees. I've ordered a couple from Four Winds Growers (in California) and they were beautiful, but there's always that darn shipping cost.

Please inform!! Thanks

I've ordered from Cumberland Valley (AKA Fruittreefarm.com) a couple times in McMinnville, TN. This spring they sent me some small stock, but I like small peach trees. Plus they sell retail trees at wholesale cost, so no problem here.

Another nursery in McMinnville is Vaughn nursery. I've not ordered from them, but some on this forum have mentioned good results with them. I don't think either of them sell citrus. I didn't know you could grow citrus outside in TN.

Others here will know better than I about the quality of their trees, but there is a seller named Freedom Tree Farms whose main location is in Pelham TN. They claim to be the largest nursery east of MS River and they supply Lowes, Home Depot, Kroger, and Wal-Mart. You can google them to find their online site, though I know for certain that they have a much, much wider variety than what is listed on their web site. Their trees are all potted and about 5-6 foot tall- you can decide for yourself if that is better or worse than small bare-root trees that many here prefer. But here is the best part for you: They operate a satellite retail business which carries a pretty full selection of fruit trees and berry plants (more than shown on their web site) at the Nashville Farmers market every single weekend. Their trees are $15 and berries are $12 and both are large and healthy looking potted plants. So you now have an opportunity to buy almost any kind of fruit tree or berry right there in Nashville, hope that helps. Daves Garden rates them great, but only has 2 reviews so you have to take it with a grain of salt. I've bought trees from them and been very pleased, but I'm new to fruit trees and lack experience needed to be a good judge. Good luck. Nashville farmers market is near downtown Nashville at 900 Rosa Parks Blvd.

I don't think you can grow citrus outside in TN, either. I'd think that is not the intention. I can vouch for the Farmer's Market selling trees from Freedom Tree Farms. I saw some there when I went there during the Fall of last year. I was tempted to grab one but I didn't see a variety I was dying to try and I was in a sedan with the family.

Side note: I have purchased a 6 foot tree and let it hang out of the sunroof of my sedan before and I would do it again. :-)

This post was edited by thapranksta on Wed, Apr 2, 14 at 10:59