Loen's is having a wholesale open-to-the-public now, every Saturday 8/a - 3/p thru Mother's Day. Their retail center is open with 30% off now. They have excellent stock, and their prices are reasonable. BIG nursery, lots of variety.

Depends what you are looking for -- lots of awesome nurseries. Portland Nursery is sometimes good. You have to shop around. Cistus is incredible for exotic stuff. Garden Corner is amazing for flowers and and little plants.

Garden World sometimes has fabulous trees. Their prices have been going up. Great place to go look around, walk up and down their isles.

Peace of Mind Nursery is absolutely mind-blowing. Pricey.

I bought a lot of trees inexpensively from a nursery on their last out-of-business day, then what was left was given to 2 employees who started their own nursery, good stuff, very good prices, E & G Nursery in Sherwood.

Hughes Water Garden in Tualatin is incredible for bogs and anything water related.

There's a private arboretum in Troutdale that is fantastic and has some baby trees for sale.

Lots of nurseries here. Lots of ppl like Al's.
Pistil's in North Portland is interesting.
7 Dees has good plants.
Evans Farm in Oregon City can have good trees.

I just bought a beautiful Pinus monticola from a Christmas tree farm guy who also has lots of specimen trees at great prices and even has cultivars growing there named after him. Dan Rickels Tree Farm, Estacada. If I had known about him earlier I would have boughts LOTS of trees from him. Great gentleman too.

Try nurseryguide.com and use their Search feature for specific trees.

Willamette Valley is of course a major production area for nursery stock. As far as retail-only outlets goes I have seen some fairly interesting boxed or tubbed trees at Portland nursery in the past. Otherwise I tend to go to Cistus nursery on Sauvie Island, because of the kinds of things they offer (large-sized trees are not the focus there but you may want to go out and have a look anyway).

cascadians, thanks so much! That goes into my permanent file :) We went to Loen once--I'll check them out again.

bboy, yes, I'm aware about the nursery industry here :) Just wondered if there is a place retail schlumps like me can go that will have well-grown trees that haven't been pruned wrong already or become rootbound, etc...I'll check Portland, and will remember to check out Cistus when we're there next. Unless the Beaverton Farmers Market starts first, and they come out here :)

It is so sad, in a way, the occasion for this: in the windstorms yesterday, a big 30 year old, 24" diameter atlantic blue cedar that is the distinguishing feature of our yard *blew over* into our house and onto our car...there was so much new growth on the ends of the branches, and so many animals loved that tree--squirrels were always playing in it, birds would sit high up in it and sing...insurance looks like it will be not another stressor, praise the fates, so one decision I have to make is what to replace the dear departed with.

When I had a similar choice back in NC (because the POs had topped a maple, not because a tree fell over!), I went with a chionanthus retusus, which I loved dearly and *hope* the new owners do too...but it's not so right for this area (the c. virginicus is native down there)...I don't want a native tree here, necessarily, but I also don't want another evergreen that will be dropping needles *constantly* all over everything. That part of the cedar I will not miss...

Why the cedar lost its foothold could be relevant to planting another tree, honey fungus or other root destroyer for instance (most Douglas firs toppling in last wave up here, that were examined afterward were found to have other other agents working on them, when an infestation was the problem).

I can find decent trees for myself or for customer's landscaping at one of several nurseries.

Loen
Cascadian
Tuefel

Cascadian may be just wholesale.

Try some small nurseries like Portland Nursery, or Farmington Gardens (if still around - I've been out of area for 3 years and returning).

M. D. Vaden of Oregon

Farmington Gardens in Beaverton is still around. Lots of trees including good sized specimens. Their inventory can be found on their website. Not sure where you are located. Beaverton is not too far west of Portland.

Thanks, bboy, mdvaden, and viola. bboy--unfortunately (fortunately?) the cedar didn't topple from the root--but cracked right about where the first branches start, which were coming off at a bradford-pear kind of acute angle. Some brilliant previous owner had made one bottom branch weave up into others rather than extend out naturally so the sight lines of the house wouldn't be blocked, and the crotches of those branches had allowed water to sit there, I think...and weaken the tree somehow. When the rest of the tree was cut down, it was revealed to be completely healthy down all down through the stump.

mdvaden, yes, Farmington Gardens is still around--but Teufel isn't, as far as I know--or they're significantly reduced--I know they sold at least some of their land to build yet more designer townhomes on...but Loen is on the agenda.

Of course now, DD is saying we shouldn't replant, because it's so much nicer and sunnier in the front yard now. I'm liking the sun now too, but I'm thinking that that would militate in favor of a deciduous rather than a evergreen, for the usual screen-in-summer/sun-in-winter effect, vs. the constant fairly deep shade the front yard was in all year round before.

In Vancouver, Shorty's has AWESOME trees. I got a fabulous Shorty's is very easy to get to--just head up 205 and then head east on Mill Plain about three minutes.

10006 SE Mill Plain Blvd
Vancouver, WA 98664
Phone: (360) 892-7880

I like Portland Nursery, too. My stree trees are from there and have stunned me with their quick growth.