You’ll want more than seedlings; you’ll want grafted fruit trees on desirable rootstocks. On a volume purchase you might find a good deal about now on local potted fruit trees that haven’t sold this season and will have to over-wintered at a retail nursery. They wouldn’t likely be the best structured trees… as they’ve been passed over all summer… but you could still see their leaves and determine their general health -- then talk to the manager -- looking for a price reduction from a third to a half. It’s actually a fine time to plant!
Otherwise, if you did your homework and if you ‘trusted’ the varieties brought into next years Home Orchard Society Spring “Scion Exchange,†for a nominal price - choose the ‘variety’ (or ‘cultivar’) you want (that’s the type of apple, pear, cherry..), talk with our rootstock experts and purchase a rootstock for each, then come to the grafting tables to have ‘us’ put them together for you. There’s an entrance fee; you pay for each rootstock and the grafting – but the ‘scion wood’ is free and the total cost is about half that of a retail tree.
However, you’d go home with tender trees around a foot ‘tall’ and in need of care and protection… And, there’s no guarantee the variety or ‘scion’ brought in is virus free or true to its name. But Retail Nurseries are notorious for mixing up tags. I’ve never got a miss-marked HOS scion - but have bought multiple miss-marked trees from nurseries… Take your pick!
"It’s actually a fine time to plant!"
I've been meaning to ask about fall planting in Western Oregon. So, how do folks feel about fall planting in Western Oregon? Pros? Cons? Dos? Don'ts?
I've got several young trees that I've been rearing in pots (just grafted this spring, now 4-5' tall) and had planned on planting out next spring. But then I thought if I'm going to have to move them around this winter anyway, I might as well just plant them out this fall.
What do you say?
Mitch
I’d say it’s safe to plant anytime. As long as you’re going from a bare root or a potted tree there should be no problems. “Transplanting†this time of year can be tricky… but we’re talking about directly planting a fruit tree that’s potted or bagged with its roots self-contained.
Speaking of ‘pots,’ keep in mind pots allow the roots to freeze from the top-down and sides-in. Planting a potted tree leaves only the ‘top-down’ danger. And if a newly grafted tree will be hardy enough to stand local winters it should do just fine in it’s ‘permanent hole.’
…my only ‘problem’ with planting now is finding a decent tree that’s been watered sufficiently, is branched well and is not ‘potbound’ from spending its summer constrained within a 5 gallon pot. But as mentioned above, there may be some deals to be had… Actually, if you took a poorly branched fruit tree (planted it) and this winter lopped it off above or below any misplaced branches, even removing those branches right up to the trunk – that tree would most likely push out a ‘bloom’ of new growth the next spring that would allow you to choose the nicest 3 or 4 branches and take off from there.
…the only downside I can think of planting ‘now’ is the fact I’d have to use a pick to break through the dry clay …it’s much softer in March 
If you are going to do your own grafting, there are several places on-line that sell root stock.
If you do a search for "apple scions" you will find sites that sell scions and usually sell rootstock. I believe Rain Tree in Washington sells rootstock. You will also find several places that sell bench grafts, if what you want are inexpensive trees and cheap shipping.
1-2 acres are a lot of trees, and if I wanted to plant that many, I'd be planting bare root trees in the spring.
A few of the commercial growers will sell wholesale amounts if you want a large number of trees, and the price is very attractive.
With 2 acres worth of trees, you might be able to get Dave Wilson to sell directly to you. You have to order a large number, but I know he sends a truck as far north as Corvallis, and probably to Portland. It would be on his schedule, because he ships in his own trucks. But his trees have a very good reputation.
If you are anything like me (when I started "planning"), you can't imagine all the stuff you don't know and should know. What you don't know can be dangerous.
As a first question -- What is your purpose in planting fruit trees? (ie personal consumption, sales, etc.) Perhaps a better question is: What are you going to do with all the fruit you will potentially grow on your property?
The next issue deals with the size of the trees you want to have. Dwarf trees when properly pruned and maintained mean that you will likely not have to work on ladders for picking and pruning. I would love to have dwarf trees but I have a problem with deer -- if I planted dwarf trees, the deer would probably leave me nothing. The rootstock you chose will determine tree size and there are different rootstocks with differing properties and soil type preferences. A standard sized tree will yield approximately 8-10 bushels of apples per year, a semi-dwarf 4-5, and a dwarf 1-1.5. Small trees take up less room so you can have more trees per acre.
I heartily recommend you visit the Home Orchard Society Arboretum located on the north end of Clackamas Community College. It is open Tuesdays and Saturdays between 9 AM and 3 PM. Bring gloves and wear clothes suitable for working. Volunteering for several hours will allow you to better understand the actual work involved and the types of problems you are likely to encounter. The HOS Arboretum is approximately 1.75 acres so you can get a good indication of how space/land can be allocated. As it is a demonstration facility, you will be able to see and potentially tasted different varieties. Karen (the site Manager) is a wealth of information and very helpful.
I seriously recommend you do some research into the numerous varieties of the fruits you indicated. The shear number of different varieties available is mind boggling -- regarding apples alone, the Winter 2010 Pome News had an article that stated: "One standard reference, from 1905, lists more than 6500 distinct varieties. There are apples for keeping, cooking, eating and making ciders . . .". If you want to taste some of these varieties, please come to the All About Fruit Show October 9-10 (I believe at the Washington County Fair Grounds). Your library is a good starting point for reading. The HOS Fruit Show in October will have a table with numerous books determined to be good sources of information that are for sale. If you can find it, you might want to peruse a volume entitled: Fruit, Berry and Nut Inventory from Seed Saver Publications (edited by Kent Whealy and Steve Demuth). I got the 2nd Edition from my local library but I understand there may be a third edition. This text will provide some insight regarding available varieties. See what the Extension Service has available for information.
Learn how to graft (and bud). Plan on enrolling in the grafting workshops the HOS teaches in the Spring.
And don't forget about grapes, figs, paw-paws, etc.
Transplanting would involve ‘digging up’ and relocating a plant that is currently growing in the ground. You would lose it’s fine root hairs and it may not be able to keep itself hydrated until going dormant or the rains of winter.
Direct planting (to me) means placing a potted plant into ‘the ground.’ Having grown within a pot or a bag, it’s roots are intact and would lose nothing. They could be ‘root pruned,’ but not lose many of the tender root hairs of this season’s growth.
There are not likely any ‘bareroot’ trees available this time of year, they’d have to have been stored under refrigeration…
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