Hint for anyone planning an orchard

[Mountaineer]

At least around here- where most nurseries are basically dead quiet due to the frozen ground- there may be some great deals to find.
Fruit trees don't do well in pots at nurseries so they usually order what they need. Overwintered trees don't look as good as newly shipped trees. I picked up hardy kiwis, grapes, several berry varieties, nut trees and a pear tree, all for 50% off. Of course I got double what I planned, as long term that is what I needed.
Well worth trudging through the snow, and makes it worth trying different varieties you may not have tried. I certainly didn't plan on getting into nuts- but it is a great protein source that stores well over winter.

[james dilley]

Around here the trees are hardly ever discounted. I Am looking at getting A few orange trees as well as Avacodo trees soon.

[Betho]

That makes sense - where there's a longer growing season and not snow/freezing, I imagine the trees aren't quite as peaked. But I bet the nurseries don't sell a whole lot of the bigger ticket items like fruit trees in the dead of winter in the places where there's lots of snow.

Definitely something to think about if if you live in a place that has a real winter.

[Mountaineer]

I gather citrus trees can fruit year round- if that's true, they'd always have a market. Temperate/cold climate trees can only sit in that pot 1-2 years before serious stress. Drought/heat/transplant stress are common in large plants potted up. Stores don't want to replace duds so would rather your plants actually took.
I worked at a nursery once, alot of the plants get trashed each fall for that very reason- they get worn out pretty quick.

[sullen]

We always buy something in the fall. Right now all the nurseries are closed, but they do have sales in the fall. We got a sugar maple a few years ago that was listed at $200.00 for 50 bucks. It has doubled in size since then.

[Ramblin Wreck]

I need to replace some trees that Bambi 1 & 2 killed last year, but I'm having trouble finding "Hardy Cumberland". The nursery I bought from last year doesn't carry it any longer.

[Jenn]

Down here (S AL) the trees are first available for sale (bareroot from up North) as soon as the Xmas trees are out of the way.