If you get big trees you'll want a lot of roots. Unfortunately that is antithetical to the interests of mail order providers.

Under typical circumstances generally smaller fruit trees that have never had their growth stunted or overgrown their space/container establish better and catch up to and overtake larger trees.

Go to a well known landscaper in your area. I know one 3 miles down the road who can get almost anything. I give him an updated spread sheet of my orchard every spring. The draw back to this is if you have to ask price don't bother. I noted in an earlier post that a house mover charged $20,000 to move a tree. If you are robert bass that is not the object, you have the tree you want.

Check out Willis Orchard. They have evrything you want, and clearly show the age and price for each. Their fruiting fuji apple at 5-6' is $32.95.

You can also try to find an orchard where they're willing to sell young but bearing age trees and dig them up bare root in early spring as soon as soil can be worked. Keep the roots wet with wet old sheets or something and replant as soon as possible.

Best if the orchard has sandy soil.

Willis does not have a great rep and most on this forum don't use them a second time.

Thanks for the replies!

I don't have a lot of money to spend (well, at least on 1 tree I don't, since I want to get lots of trees).

Yeah, harvestman, I was planning on buying from Willis Orchard but then I read they have an awful Garden Watchdog rating and something about the owner going to jail for selling bad trees.

Hmmm, I just googled ty Ty going to jail, and a got "memoirs of a sick addict." Coincidence?

^ lol, that's funny.

I have found out about buyplantsonline.com and they have a good Watchdog rating. Some people have even had trees arrive with fruit already on them! So I will definitely be ordering from them. Also Just Fruits and Exotics and Raintree Nursery, they have good ratings and exotics that I'm really interested in. Just Fruits and Exotics always lists the size of the tree as well! :)

Gryffindor4:

What state are you in?

If you want mature plants that aren't delivered bare-root, a lot of the mail order places will let you pick up larger trees at their nursery in pots or b&b. Sometimes 10 or 15 gallon pots.

That's what I did when I was getting started. I loaded up a 26 foot U-Haul at Bob Wells Nursery in Texas.

I have had terrible experiences with Willis Orchard. They mislabeled their plants and trees - I'm not sure if it was gross negligence or worse. Also, the root structures have been in pretty bad shape on delivered plants.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dallas Fruit Grower

I went to the "buy plants on line" site- those are trees in 5 gallon pots and that's too small to hold even the roots of bare root trees that I get for a fraction of the price. Potted trees will not give you an advantage when in containers this small. You will get better establishment using bare root trees.

I don't know why a business hasn't emerged that offers at least 2-year bare root fruit trees that have been carefully dug from light soil. I move up to 3" caliber trees this way all the time by carefully hand digging and the results are excellent with the exception of pears.

You can stick a 2" caliber bare root peach tree in the ground and have fruit the first season if you move the roots with the tree.

dallasfruitgrower, I'm in Jacksonville, Florida.

Thanks, harvestman, I'm still really new to this and thought that bare root was bad to get because they are more likely to die or something. So bare root trees are bigger?

Bare root trees can be bigger or smaller but they usually have much too much root to fit into a 5 gallon pot. Usually when nurseries have fruit trees in such pots they cut the roots back drastically to make them fit after receiving them as bare roots.

I apologize for suggesting Wiilis Orchard. I had no idea. I've ordered from many companies, but not from them. I actually was planning on placing an order, never mind, LOL. Lesson learned, I'll only suggest companies I have experience with.

Gryffindor4:

Check out this nursery: http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/

I have bought bareroot fruit trees from them before. Typical small bare-root trees.

But, you may be able to pick up larger sized trees from their nursery which appears to be in Alachua, Florida.

Good luck

Hi all, When I started my mini orchard, I also went after trees that were as close to bearing age as I could afford.

I order 2 five gallon persimmon trees from buyplantsonline in January of this year, one tree produce about five persimmons and the other tree never really leaf out but John replaced it at no cost to me (great customer service too) unlike other places that ask you to pay the shipping for a replacement. I also ordered several trees from Bay Laurel this year, the nursery employee said they would produce some fruit in 2012 and the crop would increase each year thereafter. Three of the BL trees flowered this summer but no fruit formed.

Also another member on this forum has posted that his trees from Bay Laurel (I think he said they were from BL) fruited in their second leaf. Baylaurels trees cost much less, but I'm very happy with all the trees. Goodluck

I have a peach tree I need to sale in Atlanta three years old

What kind of prach tree and at what cost??