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Home Depot trees
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. What do you all say? I can relate one experience of mine. Two years ago, I purchased what was labeled as a Belle of Georgia Peach. It soon developed fruit, but the flesh was yellow, instead of white. My guess is that it is a Elberta Peach. Out of curiosity, I tried to trace this tree from Home Depot. It seems like this tree went through about two or three levels before Home Depot sold it. The exact identity of the tree could not be verified. It is a healthy tree, just not what I was expecting. True, you can get some bargains at Home Depot and other big box stores, but be aware of the risks involved. That was probably the last tree I will purchase from a big box. When I was first getting into growing fruit, I purchased five trees from Frank's Nursery, who went out of business in my area. A few of them survived, but some grew larger than I wanted. As I got more into fruit trees, I discovered the best and most reliable trees were orderable on the internet as young whips. These trees grow rapidly and catch up in a year or two to the ones you see sold in local nurseries and big box stores. There are several good suppliers, like Raintree Nursery and Tree's of Antiquity out there. The advantage of ordering from them is they carry many uncommon varieties not found locally. They grow their own trees, with no middle men involved. You can be almost certain that the better ones of these nurseries are accurate on the rootstock (determines final size of the tree). If you were expecting a tree to grow to 10 or so feet, you won't be surprised when it grows many feet higher. I grow mostly semi-dwarfs on rootstock like Bud 9 that produces apple trees about 12 feet high. If I had to do it over again, I would have bought the very small trees on M27 that grow about 6 feet tall. You don't get as much fruit on a dwarf, but maintenance is much easier, and the trees yield fruit sooner than a full size tree. There are some nurseries that I avoid simply because they do not specify their rootstock, just calling it a dwarf of semi-dwarf. Starks and Millers are two of these that come to mind. They plant their own stock, but on an assembly line basis, so they cannot track each tree. If you want to grow some unusual and very tasty fruit that you can't find in your supermarket, look at these heritage fruits. Visit a fruit fair in your area where you can taste these unusual fruits and be sure to pick one that is compatible with your climate zone. You are correct on all points except for the elements of time and space. Trees are not like buying a TV that you bring home and it instantly operates to its full capacity, trees require years to mature. I've purchased mail order "whips" and they definitely don't begin producing within two years, they require more like 5-6 years for first fruit... and still there is no gaurantee they'll be true to form, they can easily get switched in the shipping departments... and the trees from independant nurseries are just as likely to be mislabled as from the big boxes, since they all come from the same local grower-wholesalers and probably get shipped here, there, and everywhere before sold to the public. And with bare root trees my experience is that about 1/4 don't make it... sure they will be replaced but one loses an entire year before they'll reship... and shipping costs for barestock whips is typically more than the plant is worth. Ppotted/balled and burlapped saplings have a far higher success rate (I havent lost one yet). And then there is the element of space for planting. If one has plenty of land to put into orchard and intends to make a major operation of growing fruit then the best route is to buy mature rooted trees from an area grower wholesaler/retailer... they will cost about double and triple than from an independant and big box... but at least you will have a mature plant that is true to form and is probably already fruiting. But for someone with a small property who is intending to have 2-6 trees then I recommend they get started with a couple of potted trees from a big box, to learn how to care for fruit trees and have time to decide what they really want to plant in limited space. If one has the space and wants they can purchase an assortment of bare root whips and plant in pots and then heel in, leave them for a couple of years until they know which survive (arrange for replacement) and decide where to plant. From reading the OP it doesn't sound like someone who will be planting an orchard, and says money is no object... then I would recommend forgoing the big box, the independants, and the mail order bare root, and go directly to a local grower and buy more mature specimens.. I suggest purchasing nursery stock as locally as possible to ensure similar growing conditions... mail order can be from thousands of miles away. A grower is a much different operation from a plant nursery. Growers do their own grafting, have many acres planted with stock in various stages. Some will have a retail section... they are typically listed in the phone book. In my location I shop these two: http://www.storysnursery.com/ http://www.schoharienurseries.com/index.htm Both are about an hours drive away in different directions so when I go I plan to spend a relaxing day strolling the acreage. I'm on their email list and so several times a year I'm notified of sales. Both maintain an amazing array of plants, many of which one never finds at nurseries... plants purchased by lanscapers for large estate jobs, but often available retail too... sometimes advance notice is needed and they will notifiy when the plant chosen is dug from the field and ready for pick up... I bought my blueberry bushes that way and got a fantastic deal compared to anywhere else. I almost bought my blueberries on line, what a mistake that would have been as they charge the credit card long before they ship, and their shipping charges are outrageous... I recommend no one buy blueberry bushes sight unseen, you can end up with 1-2 year old twigs, many of which probably won't survive, and you'll pay as much if not more than I did, $15 for 8 year old shrubs balled and burlapped filling 5 gallon pots, already producing. |
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