Fruit Tree Shopping

[Awnry Abe]

I am seeking advise on fruit tree selections and good suppliers. We live in MO, and our primary interest is peaches, apples, and pears. We would like to know what varieties have good disease resistance and preserve well.

[CarolT]

Keifer pear. disease resistant, bears a lot of fruit that preserves well. It doesn't make a good eating off the tree pear. We put up a lot of pear butter this year and man!!! Yummmy!!!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Talk to your local extension office. Fruit trees are VERY dependent on the location. What works in Missouri won't work in Texas.

[CesumPec]

I agree with Alice. Don't buy from the place that sends you the glossy magazine with the great pix. This is a time when buying from a local producer is very important.

My caution about extension agents, however, is that make sure he/she knows what he is talking about. Some of them are experienced and very knowledgeable. Some of them are...well...not as good. Ask lots of questions every time he makes a recommendation. The ones I like best are the ones that say something like, "here's a phone number for Joe. he bought a bunch of fruit trees several years ago from XYZ Tree Co. See what he says."

[K.B.]

I would go a bit against the trend here... while local folks who have experience can be a great resource, it is often difficult to find a very large selection of tree fruit varieties on a local level.

Mail order and scion exchange is a very good way to gain access to heirloom types along with specific varieties that have been selected for disease resistance traits or ripening characteristics.

Additionally, one common problem with purchasing fruit trees from local stores is finding out what the rootstock happens to be on the grafted tree you would like to buy. Retailers may have little idea what the rootstock is or even what the options are for different types of fruit trees.

There are a number of types of apples that have resistance to a wide range of common apple diseases. One of the main problems with peaches is leaf curl. There are also quite a few varieties of peaches that have been developed with a resistance to leaf curl. Fireblight is a common problem with apples and pears. Again, there are many apples and pears (don't forget Asian pears) that have a range of tolerance/resistance to fireblight.

Several mail order options I would recommend:
http://www.raintreenursery.com/
http://www.hiddenspringsnursery.com/
http://www.rollingrivernursery.com/

[Wendy]

I have ordered a lot of fruit trees from Miller Nursery & have had very good luck with them.

[haypoint]

Selection choices depend on your intended management. If you intend to go totally organic, use a few low-toxic sprays or full blown commercial pest and disease prevention, has a huge impact on what varieties to use. Personally, I cannot imagine growing peaches organicly. But get the opinions of those that are out there doing it.

[ceresone]

I think its worth the extra shipping cost to order from Raintree!! Fantastic trees

[Karenrbw]

I don't know where you are in Missouri, but we make the drive to Stark Brothers in Louisana each spring for our purchases. Most of the salespeople really know what they are talking about and there is something about being able to pick your own trees rather than ordering from a catalog. They have good sales in the spring and fall and most plants are warranted.

[Mutti]

Once again I will recommend Vernon Barnesd in TN. 65 years in business We are here in MO and have planted over 10 of his trees and all have thrived with the first bearing last year even in the drought. Plus, he doesn't charge $30 a tree. Has all the current varieities and heritage type,too. Peach,pear,plum,apricot,cherry,apple. Shrubs,grapes,nut trees, blueberries.A semi dwarf apple forexample, is $8.29 for 2-1/2 -4' tree.Dwarf trees $9.95 Call 931-668-8576 for catalog.

I had bought two cherry trees from Starks a couple of years ago...both died and I had them replaced. One died and the other is still struggling. Got two more from Vernons last year and they took right off. Thee rootstock he uses appears to be a good type for MO. Every year I post about Barnes. Wish he'd get a website but then he'd probably be swamped with orders.

[mooman]

Stark Bros IMO think a lot of their trees. They may be worth it, but until I win the lottery.....

I have bought from Willis Orchards for several years. The only time I was disappointed was when I ordered late and they were shipped after leafing out. They replaced the trees the next season no questions asked.

[Sparkie]

Originally Posted by Mutti

Once again I will recommend Vernon Barnesd in TN. 65 years in business We are here in MO and have planted over 10 of his trees and all have thrived with the first bearing last year even in the drought. Plus, he doesn't charge $30 a tree. Has all the current varieities and heritage type,too. Peach,pear,plum,apricot,cherry,apple. Shrubs,grapes,nut trees, blueberries.A semi dwarf apple forexample, is $8.29 for 2-1/2 -4' tree.Dwarf trees $9.95 Call 931-668-8576 for catalog.

I had bought two cherry trees from Starks a couple of years ago...both died and I had them replaced. One died and the other is still struggling. Got two more from Vernons last year and they took right off. Thee rootstock he uses appears to be a good type for MO. Every year I post about Barnes. Wish he'd get a website but then he'd probably be swamped with orders.

Thank you. I knew there were a lot of nurseries in McMinnville but I didn't know of any specific ones. I will call and get a catalog for sure.

[jwal10]

I check around old homesteads and gather fruit to find the good varieties. I start my own trees or graft them onto my rootstock. There are some great apples, pears and plums around here that don't need any sprays and do well. Peaches need close watching, I always spray the dormat spray, some years more, some years not. Cheap, easy and acclimated to do well....James

[OkieDavid]

One tip I might recommend is to search the internet and find trees that might interest you. Once you have a couple of varieties, research them on the net. For example- I was interested in researching/selecting Pear trees so I wrote down some varieties that looked interesting and then researched the individual trees.... Bingo- Keifer Pear turns out to be the most widely planted pear tree throughout the US and has been for some time...Since it has been around and proven itself in so many different climates I consider that a worthy addition to my brand new orchard. That helped me select one of the three varieties I ultimately ordered.

ETA: I should add that I have never ordered from this company before which is why I didn't offer up their name. To determine what all is out there, I just searched for fruit trees and visited the first few sites that popped up.

[ceresone]

I have a sorry Stark Orchard--I ordered when they still had a lifetime guarentee--several thousand dollars worth--shipped, never arrived--they didnt even have a shipping number--was too late by the time I got them, and they had gone bankrupt, wouldnt honor their guarentee

[bergere]

I love Raintree and One Green World, is pretty good too.
Have used them for goodness 16+ years now.

Do some research on root stock... a large majority of fruit trees now are grown on these.
Some root stock are more hardy than others and can make a big difference to wither they grow well in your area.

[willielisa]

Wish I had some advice - I got and planted several that were supposed to do well in our area and they are not doing well. Granted, I haven't done much to them, but since I picked hardy varieties for here- I was hoping not to have to.

My frustration was compounded this summer when I went to my parents and in their field are around 8 apple trees my dad started probably 20 years ago from saving seeds from apples we ate from the store. They are big, sturdy, and bear fruit like crazy. With absolutely no care ever. Sigh...

[Awnry Abe]

Thanks for all of the great advise. Lots of good stuff there.

Mutti, I do have the Vernon Barnes catalog, I think thanks to you from about a 6 mo old post. I do plan on getting at least some from them.

Haypoint, I don't have a vendetta against chemicals, but I don't have any real ambition for managing these as though my livelihood depended on them, so I will probably go pesticide-free. I can tolerate ugly fruit, and am nasty fast with a paring knife. But, if the difference between a peach tree and a shade tree is a spray, I will spray. I am kind of leaning toward varieties that can handle the kind of neglect that I dish out.

K.B., DW specifically wants some variety of asian pear. They are my favorite to use in the kitchen.

...daydreaming of driving to Louisiana for any reason...

How about dwarf vs. regular size? And what kind of luck do people have with buying fruit trees in with basically not dirt vs. a root ball in a baggie vs. a bucket?

[badlander]

I'm hoping to start a small orchard this spring and contacted a couple that I know who has a beautiful established apple orchard. I asked him where he bought his trees and he said Stark Brothers. There is one in southern Missouri south west of Hannibal.

11523 Highway Nn Louisiana, MO 63353 (573) 754-3113

I have written to the folks there and asked for advice as to what trees I should consider for my orchard and received a reply within two hours along with recommendations for trees that were drought resistant and would flourish in North Eastern MO. I plan to drive down there this spring and choose my own trees without shipping. I do not want bare root trees as past experience with them has not been good.

I also had a chat with a nursery owner/horticulturist that we know. This guy is a college degreed professional and knows his business, and asked him what trees he would recommend and he said that the one tree he tells folks with farms to get to go along with their other apple trees is a Golden Delicious. I asked him why and he said that it will germinate any other apple tree around it, guaranteeing you apples. He called it the "Farmer's Friend".

At this point I'm planning to plant at least two Goldens along with Johnagolds and two of the trees that Stark Brothers recommended to me: Ginger Gold, Cinnamon Spice, Stark Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Whitney Crabapple.

Will probably not do Crabapple. I'm hoping to have 12-18 trees before I'm done, buying 2 or 4 trees a year so the orchard is always working on young trees.

I'm tired of rising fresh fruit prices and poor quality fruit that you find in stores. Hopefully the trees I plant will give us and our friends all the apples we can use plus be able to sell the surplus once they start producing.

As a rule our soil isn't the best. Lots of clay. But the orchard site is where an old corral was located. The soil is black and rich from all the natural fertilizer that accumulated there and drainage is good.

As for the dwarf vs regular size, the orchard I am trying to emulate is all semi dwarfs. The nursery owner told me that the only difference between dwarf and semi dwarf is 12 feet of potential growth.

[K.B.]

CrownRanch - Glad to hear you'll be getting some Asian pears... my family love them for fresh eating and cooking, too. They make a hell of a good BBQ sauce!


The final spread and height of a fruit tree will depend on a number of things. Soil conditions, hours of direct sun, pruning technique (and timing), climate, vigor based on variety and the rootstock if the tree is grafted.

There are full dwarfing rootstocks that will keep an apple tree under 8', semi-dwarfing rootstocks that will help keep a tree anywhere from 8-24' and standard rootstock or ungrafted selections that can hit 40' or more. In general, semi-dwarfing rootstocks are pretty popular and there are a number of them for different climates and some that are widely adaptable to different soil types.

I tend to go with EMLA-26 for my apples, and an OHxF type for my pears. My cherries are on Giesela 5, and Lovell, Citation and Marianna 2624 are used for my stone fruits.

With basic pruning, these will keep all my trees at 8-15' which is my goal to avoid having to be up on a ladder very often.