Where do y'all buy trees?

[WildflowerMom]

For a decent price?    We've always gone to Lowe's and had good luck.   Last year, we used someone local and ACE hardware, unfortunately the quality just isn't there.   None of them are doing well.   The other local place is outrageous in price.   Unfortunately our only good luck has been with big box.  I don't mind buying from Lowe's, but maybe a mail order place will be cheaper?    
I'm looking for lemon trees, maybe satsuma; and also, small maples or dogwoods.  
thanks y'all 

[marbel]

We have bought from Lowes in the past and they always been fine. But now we buy only from local native plant nurseries and have had great success. 

[Ting Tang]

My husband has not ordered those varieties, but he has ordered trees online I believe.  I know there are various nurseries, but I also thought conservation programs are an option?  I will need to ask him. The more you buy, the cheaper they are. He has bought trees at hardware stores, too.  He's planted a lot of trees for the wildlife on some property.  

[Arcadia]

For maples, ask the landscapers where they get them from if you know any. We see plenty of Japanese maples being planted in complexes and schools here and they are all thriving. 
My lemon plant was from Home Depot during the pandemic but it died after a year. We don’t have a backyard, only a patio so it stayed potted. I do think the main cause is that the lemon plant does a lot better planted directly into the ground. Lemons, oranges, loquats, citrus fruits grow well here but they do better planted into the ground. Kumquats survive well as potted plants.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Arcadia
typo

[GoVanGogh]

One green world, Washington or Oregon 

almost Eden nursery, Louisiana 

logee’s 

those three are my fav mail order places 

[TechWife]

We go to our local nursery. The quality is way above that of big box stores, as is the variety. In addition, they have great customer service and a warranty/guarantee for a couple of years on trees, so if it dies they will replace it.

[TexasProud]

Depends, we have had good success with Lowes, but also used local nurseries sometimes.  And once, a tree we bought from Walmart lived when all the expensive nursery ones died...  So I am not sure it makes a difference.   But it has been many years since we have planted any trees, so my info may be outdated. 

[WildflowerMom]

Well I did some digging and there’s a large nursery north of us that I didn’t know anything about.   I might get a few trees there and a few from Lowe’s and hope I get lucky.   I’d like to plant some trees/bushes in front and on the sides.  I crave privacy.  
 

thanks for those suggestions.  I bookmarked a couple of places and added a couple things to the cart.   

[Spy Car]

I do much better when using nurseries--especially those that supply "the trade."

Bill

[Faith-manor]

We have a local nursery here that's our favorite and stocks species that are best for our region. We have two nurseries we have purchased from in Alabama, one in Hazel Green, and one Arab.

[WildflowerMom]

19 minutes ago, Spy Car said:

I do much better when using nurseries--especially those that supply "the trade."

Bill

I think the one I found does this.   I found out about them from a small farm my doctor owns.    That’s where they get their trees.   I hope we have good luck.  I like fast growers and get impatient waiting year after year for growth. 

[Spy Car]

10 minutes ago, WildflowerMom said:

I think the one I found does this.   I found out about them from a small farm my doctor owns.    That’s where they get their trees.   I hope we have good luck.  I like fast growers and get impatient waiting year after year for growth. 

The "wholesale-ish" nurseries are where you will find the best specimens and the best prices.

Some are mixed about sales to "the public," but show up and offer to pay in cash. That usually works.

Bill

[stephanier.1765]

My dad did finally find a satsuma at Ace. He was discouraged by the quality too but then discovered they labeled their satsuma by another name and that those trees looked good. I don't remember the name but he asked a worker and they were the ones who clued him in.

[prairiewindmomma]

We buy local, from a nursery.  Prices vary wildly---it looks like I can buy a semi-dwarf gala from one nursery for $65 or from a different one for around $150. Our Costco has a variety of fruit trees for $30ish, but I'd rather buy something that's been kept outside the entire time, and has been propagated locally. 

When I lived in the Midwest, I bought from Stark Bro's, but they were regionally based for me. 

[gardenmom5]

depends what kind of tree.  Some, at a big box store, others at specialty nurseries.

[wisdomandtreasures]

Mostly from a local family-owned nursery, but I got my elderberries and citrus trees from Spring Hill Nursery (can't get them locally here in Idaho because most people aren't crazy enough to put them on a roller and move them around seasonally).

[Lucy the Valiant]

Our state cooperative extension sells extremely inexpensive excellent quality small trees (along with other plants). It's a limited selection and time window, though, so more frequently we go to local nursery. ❤️ 

[BlsdMama]

Big box is the cheap version. I’ve been willing to nurse them along and be okay with slower growth. However, after our big derecho hit the next spring was very short on trees and Covid too, the only place we found to buy from that has what I wanted was a family run tree farm. We paid a fortune for that tree. It’s now been two years? Hands down, it is the best looking and growing tree we’ve planted in the past eight years since we moved there and we’ve planted about two dozen different trees. It’s made me a convert although I can’t turn down $80 blue spruce when Costco gets them. 🤷🏼‍♀️ 

[Pawz4me]

For us it depends on where we can find what we're looking for. There are two local nurseries that we look at first. If they don't have what we want and aren't planning on getting it in soon then we go to a big box store. We haven't found overall that the quality varies hugely. We've had good and bad luck from both the local nurseries and the big box stores. It's a lot easier to get a knowledgeable person to help with selection at one of the local places, though.