brooklyn1 wrote:
sherwin dubren wrote:
julie wrote:
For the first time in my life I am buying trees, specifically fruit
and probably citrus.

Is Home Depot any good for this? There are a number of terrific
nurseries around here but it is a matter of time not money, if there
is even a difference. I am not sure. I was kind of caught by surprise
here.

How does time come into play... same time to plant stock from one
nursery or another... and of course money comes into play, who do you
think you're fooling, that's the main reason for buying anything from
big box stores, it costs less. And what surprise?!?!?

What do you all say?
You better know what you are doing because the staff at these big
box stores are less than usefel.

You had best know what you're doing before buying nursery stock
anywhere... there is no chance that the staff at any retail nursery is
more useful than at another unless one has had personal experience
with a particular staff member's expertise... except that in my
experience I've found the staff at the big box store nurseries to be
far more accomodating with schlepping and loading. I don't
necessarily rely on retail nursery worker's plant expertise, that's my
responsibility to learn prior to shopping.

In Menards today, the clerk told me that most peach trees need another
polinator, whereas apples are mostly self fertile. She got things
backwards.

She also mentioned that apples could be pollinated by pears, plums,
etc. She better go back to fruit trees 101 before she gives out
false information like that.



Why would a clerk come out of nowhere with that kind of information,

We were discussing various topics about prices of trees at different
stores. She volunteered the information about pollination
requirements. I merely corrected her.
and if you already know the answers to your questions that makes you
grossly disingenuous.

You are an idiot.


Your story is not believeable, it sounds like
something made up by someone with a grudge against the big box
emporiums.

Oh sure. I'm on a real vendetta against big box sellers.
Again, you are a big idiot.

Plants would be labeled with planting instructions and
typically fruit tree tags list pollinating requirements.

What planet are you on?

Someone with
a degree in horticulture wouldn't be schlepping plants around any
retail nursery. Anyone considering growing fruit should educate
themselves about what to plant and how before ever visiting any plant
nursery. Folks don't go to Lowes to learn horticulture anymore than
they do to learn heating and cooling... occasionally one will by pure
accident encounter an employee with expert knowlege but at the wages
paid at any retail nursery I'd not count on it... one can learn all
they need to know about fruit trees on the net. Folks shop at big box
stores to save money regardless what they buy,

I shop at big box stores for items I think are a good value. Fruit
trees are something I think people should be aware of the possibility
of getting something they didn't expect.

they should have
already armed themselves with the knowlege required for what to
choose. If one is too lazy to do research on their own they can
always go to the dedicated plant nurseries where they'll pay twice as
much and still will be just as likely to receive incorrect
information

Much less likely since nursery people are dedicated to that business
and they don't hire temporary workers, as a general rule.

, probably more likely, becaue places that charge more are
more likely to not admit not knowing so would dispense BS instead. In
my experience the help at the big box nurseries have no more
horticultural knowlege than what anyone can read on the plant tag,
anytime I've asked a more technical question they've said I don't
know... can't get more honest. Retail plant nurseries pay little more
than minimum wage... no education is required to schlepp plants, bales
of planting medium, and watering hoses about.

I don't shop at local nurseries for plants I can buy on the web for
much less money. The nursery people are not experts, but they
know a lot more than the big box people.

However the nursery
stock at either is exactly the same, comes from the same local
wholesalers/growers. Also the big box stores don't hassle folks about
returns whereas the independant nurseries typically institute all
sorts of escape clauses for not replacing plants or returning full
purchase price.

Strange, I recall you toting the advantage of buying big trees from
your local nursery. Sounds like you have some problems with one
of them.

Another point to consider is that the typical
independant retail nursery buys all their stock in one fell swoop in
order to take advantage of bulk discounts... that same stock sits in
what is virtually a parking lot the entire season hoping for a buyer,
it gets sun, it hopefully gets watered regularly, it gets knocked
about by folks looking, and the nicest specimens are sold right away
and not replaced... what's left doesn't go into the ground until
someone buys and plants it. Whereas the big box stores are gigantic
accounts, they get freshly dug shipments weekly, even daily. It's
pretty silly not to shop the big box nurseries first, especially for
newbies like the OP who really have no business purchasing the more
costly less common plants until they gain some experience, at least
enough experience not to need to ask the nursery help about
pollinating.

I did not ask for help on pollination, but tried to correct some
statements made by a big box clerk. I think the care issues you
mentioned apply equally to nurseries and big box. I have seen
tree stock from big box stores that looked pretty sad and eventually
was put on sale at the end of the season, to clear it out.

There is lots of info available about fruit trees but it's best to
research ones own area.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/pollination.html

You talk like there are only two sources of fruit trees. Local
nurseries and big box stores. I think the best choice is a
reliable out of town nursery. The selection is way bigger
when you deal with the whole country. I find for reliable tagging,
that can only be found at specific nurseries where they
grow their own trees from scratch. The better nurseries can tell
you exactly what rootstocks you are getting, not some ambiguous
label like semi-dwarf. Sure, you can get a better deal at a big
box store, but you can never be sure about what you are buying.
Most of the nurseries in my area (Chicago) are way too expensive.
I buy whips or benchmark trees that arrive in great shape and
adopt nicely to my backyard.

Sherwin