Our Home Depot got some bareroot trees in. They are small and as everyone knows the trees they sell are often not true to label. I purchased a nice 8'+ tall 1 1/2" caliper Anna Apple tree at A&P Nursery on Brown here last Friday. But I know its true to its label because its a Dave Wilson grown tree. I wish the local nurseries carried the trees I wanted. Only low chill varieties will reliably produce fruit here. Even so most of the trees for sale here are high chill varieties. When I ask why they sell trees that will not fruit here they say people want to buy Bing Cherry and Bartlet Pear trees and the low chill varieties don't sell. The thing is all the trees that I purchased online started out like the big wonderful tree I purchased at my local nursery. Thats the way they arrive at the online nursery I purchased the other trees from. Then they sell them to me and trim the roots and butcher the branches and cut off the top to fit them in a box. I don't blame them this is the way all the online nurseries do it. Besides the trees I received are larger and nicer than what I would get buying from most of the other online tree nurseries and I can't get the varieties I want locally. If only local nurseries would carry low chill fruit trees. THISISME wishing out loud.

Marlingardener: A good place to start would be for you to tell us what sources you have looked at and found wanting. We also have to define "reasonable" prices. No self-respecting nursery is going to sell you a bareroot tree for much under $20. and for dwarfing rootstocks or special items it will usually be more. Womack Nurseries right there in DeLeon, TX, is an excellent, owner-operated nursery that sells all the items you list at what I consider reasonable prices. But they are a small nursery, and don't have a super-wide selection, although what they do have will do well in Texas. They ship bareroot, and their shipping season is in early spring, but you might give them a call and see what they have for fall. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I don't see why it might not be advantageous to purchase 3 year old trees if the nursery was reputable. I wish the nurseries I ordered from like ACN offered 2 year trees which are popular in Europe because they speed harvest by about a year. For dwarfs, anything more than 2 years would not only be a waste of money in my opinion but a disadvantage over a well managed 2 year tree and be likely to runt out because of its advanced maturity during the stress of transplant (unless you removed all spur-wood). Wolf, if you decide to plant bare-roots stay far away from Miller Nursery unless you want tiny whips and possibly mis-labled trees. Cummins is good for unusual stuff but you may get larger trees from a larger commercial supplier like ACN or C+0 which I believe will fill small orders (ACN will, at least)- not sure about Van Well which was mentioned and is another reputable commercial supplier. I am reluctant to steer you from Cummins- great people, great know-how, great selection (until they start to sell out). When ordering BR's the only reason distance is important in my experience (which is substantial) is the cost of shipping. BR's are so tough that I often park a box in the shade for a couple weeks before planting them with no ill affect. I supposed a truck could get stuck in extreme cold weather and damage trees from a Westcoast nursery if trees were already budded out. Forget about getting stuff from garden centers, unless it's privately owned by a fruit-nut. You can't trust what they say about rootstocks or scions. Order ASAP. The best nurseries tend to sell out- I put in my order months ago.

I would go to your favorite nursery and try to special order the exact tree you want. Dave Wilson Nursery is a common supplier, so you can get an idea of whats available from that site. If you call around you might find a Nursery which potted up some of their leftover bare root stock... or does this routinely. The best way is by mail order - bare root, but that time has passed.