Here goes. I have a brand new, ready to plant front-yard garden (formerly lawn) and I need quite a few new trees. Being impatient, 2 year olds would be great.
I want to buy locally, since the Willamette Valley has a gazillion nurseries, but I don't want the limited selection that places like Portland Nursery and Tsugawa Nursery (Woodland) carry. Nothing wrong with them, I just want dwarf rootstock and particular varieties of fruits (peaches, apples, pears, plums, blueberries, brambles...). I've tried searching online but I really can't find a lot of retail sources. Any suggestions? I'm willing to drive an hour or so from Portland.
Thank you!!
Mike
Mike, here’s where I’d start: http://www.northwoodsnursery.com/
The web address includes their former name, “Northwood’s Nursery,†though they’re now (and have been for quite a few years) “One Green World.†And look, you’d be just in time:
“Come by the nursery on September 13 between 10am and 4:30pm and taste the unique fruiting varieties from our catalog, including Cornelian Cherries, Asian Pears, Sea Berry Juice and more. Our October 11 Harvest Festival will feature Paw Paws, Grapes, Apples, Hardy Kiwis and additional delectable fruits from our orchard.â€
They do both catalog, and retail sales from the nursery; I’ve had a good experience with both. In fact, when trees get too big / old to ship, you can often buy them at the nursery – and get that extra time / growth you’d like. They’re likely potted up, and Fall’s a great time to plant new trees. Nearly half of mine were planted in the fall …and that’s been over 20 years ago…
If you see Jim Gilbert, the owner, tell him ‘Viron sent you.’ 
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Great, thank you so much! I did see the One Green World harvest fest online last night after a few more hours of searching. And I'll be sure to give my regards 
BTW, Has anyone had good experiences with Raintree Nursery up in Morton,WA? They have a fancy website but seem expensive for such a long drive from Portland.
Mike,
Raintree’s my second choice – a close second. Yes, they’re much further away from (me and) Portland; thus I’ve never been to their nursery. But I’ve ordered a lot of their material by ‘mail.’
Both Raintree and One Green World remind me of the adage, “You get what you pay for.†As a victim of miss-marked nursery stock, in which you wait 6 to 7 years to find your beautiful cherry trees aren’t what they were marked – and they won’t pollinate each other, among other miss-marked items and unknown rootstocks… I’ve come to appreciate a Nursery that cares, and both of these operations do.
in Onalaska , WA. It's by Centralia. They are cheaper than One Green World and Raintree, but they don't have the glossy catalog, or events at the site. In fact, normally, you get their stuff by mail order or at the Olympia Farmer;s Market. It's a smaller operation overall, but I like it.
John S
PDX OR
There is a small family Nursery in Puyallup WA run by a Bob Harman. He does not have the colorful catalog of a bigger Nursery, but his stock is very good and he knows the maritime climate issues well. He is up on Rootstocks and an active member of the West Cascades Fruit Growers' Association.
I have to put this plug in for him, cause I think he's got good stuff and prices are modest too.
garyj, if you're interested in rootstock, fruit, etc., the Fruit Propagation Fair/Scion Exchange is a spectacular event if you want to learn about growing fruit. You can also get a lot of plants from cuttings, like figs, grapes, quince or medlar maybe, kiwis, that will grow into plants even if you haven't learned how to graft yet. It's on March 6th and it's at the Washington County Fairgrounds. You can talk to experts and buy rootstock or plants very very cheaply.
John S
PDX OR
John, Thank you for your response. At this time I am just trying to find a nursery that carries a good variety of basic fruit trees for the Willamette Valley. We just moved into a house in West Linn and are thinking of at most four or five trees. They would probably be an apple, two plums (Italian or Brooks), and a sweet cherry. From the other post I discovered North Woods Nursery which appears to have an excellent selection. What we are hoping to find are some trees that are perhaps two or three years old. I sent an enquiry to North Woods about some larger fruit trees but haven't heard back yet. If you are aware of other sources please let me know.
Now don't get all snobby on me.
A very good place to buy bareroot fruit trees in the PNW is BiMart. I've been buying their trees for years and the trees are always healthy and grow well. The price is quite reasonable.
Just keep an eye open for their delivery and get right in there immediately. The best varieties sell out fast.
I bought trees and brambles from Burnt Ridge (mail order) this year and the plants are good for mail order plants. I like to see what I am paying for, but they have a good reputation and I'm happy with what I revceived. The trees are small, but what I expected for the reasonable price so I wasn't disappointed by their size.
6 years ago, the Grocery Outlet had some plain generic white package bare roots, of types that everyone knows won't grow in Central Oregon. They were very cheap and looked healthy, so I bought several. They've grown like crazy and bear lots of wonderful fruit and have had no diseases. So much for what "everybody knows" about growing fruit in Central Oregon.
This year, Grocery Outlet had trees with the same plain white package, but no longer dirt cheap. Still, I bought 2 nectarines and they look just fine and are settling in happily.
This week, my son is driving over to Eugene and he's going to a nursery that grows blueberries, hoping to get a couple dozen plants. If the plants look good, I'll mention the nursery's name.
Best wishes from Central Oregon
Gary J,
If you're interested in bigger trees, most of the most exotic nurseries (Burnt Ridge, One Green World, Raintree) Will have a day (perhaps on website) in which they sell oversized trees, that you can buy when you drive up in your truck but they won't mail. It should be soon in each case (end of season) so check each of those.
John S
PDX OR
By the way, I agree with Oregon Woodsmoke that you can buy cheap trees at some places if you know what your're looking for. I like Bi Mart.
If you’re willing to chance the eventual vigor or size of your tree/s, I doubt the bagged tree prices can be beat; I’ve grabbed some nice ones from Fred Meyer garden centers over the years. But – you’ll have no idea what the rootstock is; “Semi-Dwarf†tells you nothing. You could end up with anything from 20% to 80% dwarfing, and I’d expect they veer toward smaller ‘city lot’ sizes…
Actually, the cheapest place to buy a ‘tree’ is at our HOS Fruit & Cutting… Scion Exchange! You match rootstock to cultivar vigor (with all kinds of help) and can have the two joined for less than most bagged trees. Granted, they’re about two years behind… but in time that difference could easily be made up by the fact you’ll have trees fitting your soil and site size… But it’s nearly a year away 
The scion exchange sounds a brilliant idea. A extra year or two is not long to wait to get exactly the right tree that will live for decades.
I would love to learn how to graft and hope to get over the mountains to the scion exchange. It's a long drive for me, but worth it.
If rootstock is important to you, the name of the nursery should be on the package of the bareroot. You can call them and ask what the rootstock is. Either wait to buy (risky, it might sell out), or else take the tree home and return it if you don't like the rootstock.
I've seen a lot of bagged trees that I wouldn't take as a free gift.
I also buy bagged trees within days of their delivery to the store. There just isn't that good a chance that anyone at the store knows or cares about how to take care of them.
Where I live, there are no growers and I have not had all that much good luck with mail order plants. I like to see what I am buying.
You've got to be careful with the bagged trees. I've certainly seen a lot of varieties on offer that are far from the best for my area and are bound to be a disappointment, not because there is anything wrong with the tree, but because a different variety would be better for the climate.
A caveat: don't take my advice on anything garden related. I'm a bumbling amatuer and there are obviously some real experts on this forum. Listen to them, not me.
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
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