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cres_gw

Best way to buy trees

Cres
10 years ago

Hello,

I am new to the forum and we are new to PA. I wanted to find out what's the best way to purchase trees. Are local nurseries the way to go or the online stores? Also would like to know of quality local nurseries in the area around Williamsport, PA.
Many thanks.
Cres

Comments (16)

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    10 years ago

    first you define the PROPER PLANTING SEASON ...

    and then you insure that you receive your stock so as to plant them at the exact proper time ...

    and then.. no matter where you get them ... you plant them properly.. which involves.. near bare rooting [but not with ball and burlap] .. no soil amendments.. and no fert.. and complete PROPER WATERING FOR UPWARDS OF TWO YEARS ...

    it really doesnt matter where they come from.. each source has its own issues .. its really more about what you do with them.. after you get them ....

    brandon also has a link for proper planting methods ...

    ken

  • drrich2
    10 years ago

    Best for selection would be online, most likely.

    Most likely for really big, say, 12' plus, trees would be local due to shipping costs, if you can even get them shipped.

    All other things being equal, you might want to read about Smart Pots, Rootmaker Pots, and Bare Rooting as alternatives to standard plastic pots. Also compare to 'Ball and Burlap.' These are the various options that you want want to compare. Issues include root mass size and proneness to root girdling.

    Richard.

  • poaky1
    10 years ago

    Cres, In Pa. I see you are in the mountainous parts of Pa. You should try to pick trees with the qualities you feel are best for your land. Oaks are usually long lived and planted for shade on most properties. I have bought many trees from the "Arbor day foundation".

  • Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
    10 years ago

    Cres, for the average person I would say a business dedicated to just selling trees is the way to go. I found one "only" sixty miles from me which will sell me a couple trees a year in couple gallon pots for reasonable money. They have a good selection compared to the box stores and at least a qualified enough staff to keep their trees healthy and me from making mistakes. The success rate of transplant is highest this way.

    Mail order/Internet places can be a great source once you get into needing something rare or unusual. Some down right suck though and you generally can not see what you are buying. Plus nothing like a few days on a UPS truck to suck the life out of a little plant. I have generally good luck with mail order but time my orders carefully and watch for reviews on here.

    Box stores are the bottom of my list. The trees are too big for their pots usually and the staff is real hit or miss. But hey, I know enough about my old Mustang that I can walk into Autozone and get a serviceable part despite hit or miss help so I use them plenty.

  • edlincoln
    10 years ago

    Really depends on whether you want something common or something obscure.

    Mail-order companies give you a MUCH better selection and often better prices for bare-root trees. You can get some pretty obscure plants. The catch is, shipping can be an issue. If you aren't there when the plants arrive they can (depending on the weather) die in a truck or on your porch. If you aren't going to have the time to plant them immediately whenever they happen to arrive (which is often unpredictable), it can be a problem. I've had plants die from that. Also, there can be issues buying a plant from a warmer climate. (It can be a shock for a tree to come from some place it was summer to a place it is still winter).

    Nurseries let you pick up a plant on a weekend you will be free and bring it home to plant immediately.

    You also have to decide how big a tree you want. Trees that are bigger offer immediate satisfaction and are less likely to get accidentally killed by a lawnmower but tend to have less roots then a tree that grows on site...which is a problem if you have band winds or draughts.

    I like buying from County Soil Conservation Sales, Native Plant Sales, Lowes, and online.

    ken_adrian, you tend to give the same rants regardless of what the question is.

  • viper114
    8 years ago

    cold stream farm......that is the one of the best online stores to buy trees from

  • brandon7 TN_zone7
    8 years ago

    Hmmm, I don't know why I thought the OP was in VA. Maybe I was thinking Williamsburg, VA for some strange reason. But, since the thread is two years old, I guess it doesn't matter now.


    Johnny A must have been kidding with his post .... either that, high on drugs, or trolling us. Who knows.

  • alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
    8 years ago

    For me, mail order is best. Trees at nurseries are often too big and are severely root bound from being on containers too long. From my past experience, it often seems like I know more about the trees than the nursery workers do. Surprisingly, I have found some wonderful native plants at the local flea market for really cheap, I bought a wonderful looking Gordonia lasianthus last weekend for just $8, although the the lady mistakingly called it an Anise tree.

  • wisconsitom
    8 years ago

    At least she didn't say what I heard a woman ask in a Florida garden center one day: "Hey, do you have any Florida anus trees"? She was close!

  • Campanula UK Z8
    8 years ago

    I followed the link on Johnny A's post to silk ficus trees where 'over 1008 leaves adorn this tree'.

    So, 1009 then?

    For something which has the stature and potential longevity of a tree, it is worth making the effort to go and see it in the flesh (so to speak)...unless buying maiden whips.

  • edlincoln
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I want to like local nurseries, but haven't actually had much luck with them. The stuff they sell tends to be too big and too expensive. They would be hugely useful if they knew local conditions, knew what was native to the area, and carried natives from local seed sources...but by and large they all sell foo foo cultivars of the same handful of species. A lot seem geared to professional landscapers. (Who often go for a "cookie cutter" look and treat plants as disposable things to be replaced frequently) Other cater to the sort of serious plant collectors who expends massive efforts to keep exotic foo foo rose cultivars alive in a zone they really shouldn't survive. (Who will say "Yeah, you can grow that hear" for plants I could never grow)

    American Holly grows wild in the woods here but I can't find it anywhere but online. There is at least one tree I know only last a couple years around here that is readily available at local nurseries.

    I tend to buy plants from State Nurseries, online, from Native Plant Sales and Native Plant societies, and from from Lowes "end of year" clearance sales. (Which are good for common shrubs and bulbs).

    I think Johnny A may have been mocking the idea of buying plants online.

  • alabamatreehugger 8b SW Alabama
    8 years ago

    Twice a year our local botanical gardens has a plant sale, and they have vendors from all across the region. It's a bit chaotic as you usually have to stand around and wait for an empty wagon/cart, but I have bought many great plants there.

  • wisconsitom
    8 years ago

    Well, this is the Trees forum...and I've purchased an awful lot of trees, so based on those two facts, my answer would be to use private and govt. agency nurseries to purchase what you're after, if what you're after is seedlings! Yes, I'm talking strictly about seedlings, of which I must have purchased 10,000 in the last five or seven years. I go with whomever has what I want. For example, one item we've planted in large numbers is Larix marschlinsii-hybrid larch. There is one and exactly one vendor for this item in the world, so far as I know, and that is itascagreenhouse.com. For other more easily-sourced items, I've gone with DNR stock, stock from the state of Michigan (My land is near Michigan's Upper Peninsula), and other private growers. I like to mix and match even when I don't have to, so as to potentially gain genetic diversity within a given species. So, to date, I've planted roughly 4000 Norway spruce, but from three or four different sources. That kind of thing.

    I know full-well this is not what OP is talking...or asking about. But again, this is the Trees forum, and I doubt if very many participants here have planted more trees than have me and my sons. From that standpoint alone, my answer fits, I think.

    What's more, even if afforestation-style planting isn't your thing-if all you want is one tree for that certain spot in your yard, I would still suggest that by going very small-seedling size really-and young, you will have ultimate control over how that tree shapes up. Contrast that with your typical garden center special, all full of poor pruning cuts, designed unfortunately to look like someone's imagined mini-version of a full-sized tree......or spruce and pine which have been horribly shaved up to match some idiot's idea of how these trees are "supposed to look"....and getting itty-bitty young stock and dealing with it yourself every step of the way suddenly sounds pretty good. Does to me anyway.

  • spedigrees z4VT
    8 years ago

    viper114 I second your recommendation for Cold Stream Farm. I have had very good luck with them. I am in Vermont and our climate is similar to Michigan where Cold Stream is located, so that may account for the success of the trees I have purchased from them over the years. http://www.coldstreamfarm.net/

  • poaky1
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I am more SW in Pa than you, but I have gotten many oaks from Mossy Oak natives nurseries, they have other trees also, they are out of stock of many trees now, but, I was able to get a few of "out of stock" trees that they likely had sitting around, I would look for the heck of it, and ask if they have a few of the "out of stock" trees. But, they are small seedlings a few feet tall, if you want a large tree look elsewhere. But, all my small seedlings have grown really fast. That will, of course depend on what you choose, most grow fairly quickly though. They are grown in special pots, so no tangled roots to mess with before planting. I have never had a problem with them. You must spend at least $20 to order, if I recall right. They are mail order from one of the gulf coast states, but I never had a problem with their trees hardiness, unless I chose to buy one that said it wasn't hardy to my zone 6, my fault then.