I have ordered from Four Winds Growers and found their prices to be very reasonable. They also have varieties that I can't get at a lot of other places. You didn't say where you were from, but those in the state of California can not get trees from out of state. Four Winds is the only place for some to get some of the different varieties. That is unless they can get them from the bud wood program and bud them themselves. The 2 trees I got from Four Winds were 2-3 year trees and in very good health when I received them. When I started to have a problem I contacted Toby and he was very helpful in diagnosing the problem and saving my trees.
Andi

I've bought a number of 2-3 yr old trees from Four Winds and have always been very happy with the quality and customer service. I didn't find their prices unreasonable. I think that I paid $37 each for the last 2 trees I bought. They were purchased in the spring so I didn't need to add the extra $10 for cold weather shipping. I plan on getting another tree from them in the spring.
Karyn

I agree with the two pro-fourwinds nursery posts. Living in Petaluma, CA.,I am practically in their backyard. Their trees (5 gals.) run $21.00 at Lowes and Home Depot, and they are well-grafted and healthy, some with fruit already hanging from them. They are the best quality citrus I've seen in CA. since I've lived here during the past 2 years.

The original poster did not mention what cultivars the "huge" citrus trees were and if they were dwarf selections or standard. Sorry for the sarcasm, but I immediately thought of the cows I saw in one pasture just a short bit ago and how much larger they were than the sheep in the adjoining pasture. It is very unlikely the poster saw trees that were 5-7 years old in a nursery. It's more likely that the poster was comparing more vigorous cultivars and, possibly, ones that are on "standard" stock versus the less vigorous Satsuma that may be on "dwarf" stock. Four Seasons has a very successful business for a reason: they produce a wide variety of high quality trees and get paid what they are worth.

The tree that i bought is a Satsuma mandarin on a "dwarf stock" the trees i said were a lot bigger were to on "dwarf stocks". they had all varieties of citrus that i noticed. i didn't ask if they had satsuma, but i assumed they probaly did. Well maybe i'm an "ass" for "ass"uming. Anyways i sent four winds a letter stating that i was displeased with the size of the tree, and without any question they refunded my money back and said i could keep the tree too. Really nice lady, but after going to that other nursery don't think i'll order from her again.

Go to your local Lowes or Home Depot and see if four winds trees are carried there. Problem solved....good luck...

I purchased a Meyer Lemon from Four Winds and was happy with what I received. The company does seem to carry quality products. However I agree that they are very expensive for mail order, and I can't afford to buy more from them at that rate. Fortunately I've found a good source here in the east that also sells quality products with a wider selection at a price less than half what Four Winds charges.

Thanks, for the follow ups. only OSH carries four winds trees from what i read on their site. Anyways this nursery i found has much nicer trees than Home Depot or LOwes. if anybody lives in Moreno Valley and wants to go check it out, it is off Redlands Blvd. i just bought a huge beautful looking Gravenstein apple from them for only 30$. The thing is like 9' and looks really healthy, probally from all the chemical fertz. they feed it, but i'm trying to detox it. Anybody know any organic apple growing advice?

I am also a 4 Winds subscriber.
They specialized in Dwarf varieties and they are nice and aesy to deal with.
JSL is one of the few that is not satisfied with 4 Winds. From the past experience the %tage of unhappy ones are 50 to 1.
Go figure.
It is the same arguement. There was a lady back east that kept advising people for many years how bad 4 winds were how small their plants were compared to what she got from her nursery and how much taller. But her nursery grew standard trees whereas 4 winds grows dwarf. She just could not figure it out.

I have purchased trees from 4 winds.
Excellent service. The trees were exceptionally healthy.
I intend to order again from them.
Tom

Oh, BTW
about growing organic apples!
http://members.valley.net/~garden/articles/organicApples.html

Yes, Four Winds via Mail order is more expensive. You have to go to the places that buy in volume to get the best price. OSH is the best and can get anything that they grow, including standards! (Yes, Four winds does grow them!) I have a Daisy Mandarin (Standard) that I just got a couple of months ago.

The quality of Four Winds Trees is the best. I have purchased about 70% of my 80+ trees from Four Winds and I am VERY satisfied. Durlings, LaVerne and Clausen are also good.

Let us all hope that this crazy icy weather is over!

Not all of the trees grown by 4 Winds are the best. Some are better than the others. My strategy is to go to Home Depot and look for the best plants 4 winds can offer. I may have to go back time and again to get the best deal. But I go to Home Depot many times anyways. I am a contractor and I buy my electrical parts at HD.
Many times I get the rare kinds that if I buy it from the regular nursery will cost me an arm and a leg.

This is off the subject, but since I see some regulars on this thread, I'll pose the question: Has anyone seen Toni lately? I sent her an email several weeks ago and didn't get a reply, plus I haven't seen any recent posts, and usually she's the most active participant on here.

No. I did not.

Hello,

I never mail-ordered trees.I always go to a nursery outlet to see the trees.Also there is a lot of people who do not know the difference between a standard and a dwarf. Standard trees are grafted on standard rootstocks.Dwarf trees are grafted on dwarf rootstocks.The scions are exactly the same on both stocks. Mail order has always to be sbstancially higher in price due to the cost to deliver and the risk involved as opposed to pick up. So there is no reason to whine.I have bought plants from different nurseries.I like in particular "Four Seasons in Half Moon Bay,CA"for citrus.I like trees from Dave Wilson Nursery.They do not sell to public.I have bought them in "Alden Lane Nursery" in Livermoore,CA. Another nursery outlet deserving to visit is Calaveras Nursery in Sunol,CA, with great trees and very good prices.Another nursery that impressed me was Regans Nursery in Fremont,CA.All these nurseries are deserving visiting, but give a call before going there. There is a nursery in Cupertino that I visited.Yamagami.Good trees but exorbitant price.I just told the employ it is a rip-off.He told me they are expensive because they are in an affluent area and they give all the info to the custumer in order to take care of the plants. I do not fully buy it. The other nurseries I mentioned provide a nice service and informationa nd are cheaper.I do not mind driving half an hour to an hour away to find nice trees with nice price and service. Sometimes I find good trees in Costco,Homedepot,OSH or Lows.I just have to be selective and know what I am buying.However service in these stores is mediocre.But I know what a good tree is and what to do with a tree.If you dont,dont buy in those stores nursery outlets.Jim.

Jim,
Your points are valid, however sort of moot in most cases. I would love to visit a citrus nursery or even go to Four Winds Growers directly, but,because of where I and many others live this is an impossibility. We live in the NON-citrus growing states and mail order or the big box stores is our ONLY source for the plants we crave. IF we all lived in a perfect world, our homes would be accommodating to any plant we wished to grow. Such is not the case so we must improvise. I gladly go to the big box stores and gleefully scan mail order catalogs, both online and the mailed to me kind, and salivate at the choices. Sometimes I have paid more than whats necessary for my choice but have always been happy when I get flowers/fruit. You base your price choices on what you can get locally. There is more competition in California and Florida, while here in ARKANSAS there is none when it comes to citrus. There are no citrus nurseries here. I don't believe there are any in the northern states either.
Please don't look down on us because we have to purchase our trees/plants by mail order or at the big box stores. If we all had to move to California or Florida to have the plants we wanted, both states would be hugely more overburdened than they already are.

Interesting discussion and some great points made about buying citrus from non-cali residents. I just purchased a 4-winds dwarf cara cara navel from Osh. I avoided the $18 UPS charge if I had ordered on-line (I am in So cal, 4 Winds is up north) and was able to pick out the tree myself from many varieties. Literally just planted it so I can't comment on overall quality, but health-wise it looks great, and is fairly mature for a 1-year old (that came in a 5 gallon pot) I did notice the trunk is only about 1/2" in diameter - my dwarf ruby red grapefruit that I bought from armstrong garden center near my house has about a 2" diameter trunk after 2.5 years of growth. does anyone know trunk growth vs relative fruiting and size of tree? i.e. how long will my 4-winds osh bought 1-year take to catch up with my ruby red. my ruby red has had one piece of fruit in its lifetime so far, which I picked a few weeks ago and was delicious! I've been told this is typical for dwarf citrus - need time to establish a root sytem to support weight of fruit (or something like that!) at any rate, to get back on point, I would not hesitate to order from 4-winds on-line and almost did to get the more mature trees as OSH only carries the youngsters...