Ace hardware on Glenwood often does, you can call Johnsons and ask them too, they are just wonderful.

Brad, I broke down and drove up there one day in Jan/Feb to pick up some cherry trees. It was well worth the trip, took about 75-90 minutes to get there. They were incredibly friendly, huge property, little single-wide trailer for an office, they drove me around all of the hundreds of rows of trees and let me sort through the dozens of Montmorency cherry trees to pick the exact one that I wanted - I got a 7gal Montmorency cherry for, like, $30 or something? I forget. It was cheeeaaaappp compared to prices I've seen for trees this big. The tree was nicely rooted out, but not root-bound.

They have a good selection on-site, but with a drive like that, I would call in advance to make sure they have everything in stock. The one thing they didn't have was Stella cherry, but they let me buy it and have it shipped to my house. I got it in the ground a few weeks ago, and it's breaking buds as of last week.

I had some bad luck with two Montmorencies purchased from them last year - got them in early-to-mid spring, bare-root, and the heat, direct sunlight and excess of water last spring/summer killed them off pretty darn quick. Not really their fault, I should have potted them in 4-5gal containers and kept them in the shade until fall, then transplanted.

Now you're making me want to drive up there next time I go get chicks or hatching eggs from north GA. I've been extremely pleased with the plums and pears I bought from the Oakhurst sale, which came from them.

I have very little experience with fruit nurseries, but did spent several of my teen years in an area of Central FL with lots of nurseries all over the place, almost all had similar setups to Johnson's.

While most folks might not find Johnson's particularly amazing, or run-of-the-mill, I can say that it was very well organized, simple, lots of acreage with lots of clean, straight rows of potted plants and trees, enough space to easily drive between the rows with an ATV/Mule.

I basically walked into the tight little office space, told them what I wanted, they radio'ed out for someone to pick me up, and drove me around to pick it out.

I've been more than happy with everything I've purchased with them. So far, in different purchases, I bought 2 AU Rosa plums, 2 Montmorency cherries, 1 More Montmorency cherry, and 1 Stella cherry. I think I might get some Arapahoe or similar thornless blackberries this year, depending on how my blueberries come through for the year.

I'm really wanting to go up. We ordered from them and they brought the items in and were so nice. The fellow who came was like "come on up for a WHOLE WEEKEND"! Learn to graft and help me out, come and stay with me and the Mrs. have a nice time. Greet the people at the nursery, come see our friends who grow fruits. Really nice folks.

Thanks everyone for the replies! I'll have to give them a call to see if there are any local nurseries that carry their inventory. I've also been debating going up there. With the cost of gas and their reasonable shipping prices, I figured it wouldn't be worth the trip but you have me second guessing now! I believe I read that the only ship bare root and stop shipping at the end of march. Do they still sell fruit trees after this if you pick them up and are they bare rooted or potted? Thanks again for all the information.

Brad

Well, couple of things.

They don't ship rooted in pots with 1yr+ fruit trees that I've ever seen; it only comes bare-root, same as many nurseries out there. Likewise, most nurseries, including Johnson, are hesitant to ship or have already stopped shipping bare-rooted this late in the year.

Bare-root can be a good thing ... you can look for root-borne infections/parasites such as RKN (Root Knot Nematode) which will infect your soil and cause you endless woes, stunted growth, wilting, disease, poor fruiting, fruit drop, etc. Many people don't look at the roots of potted fruit trees and plants they buy, it's actually a crying shame if you ask me.

Bare-root can can also be daunting for some (figuring proper way to get it in the ground). Once you do it a few times, it's easy to learn. Just don't soak the root system for too long, and follow the instructions. Johnsons sends very clear instructions and care with ALL trees they ship.

Bare-root trees are shipped as a "whip". A "whip" ... well, they take the tree, cut almost all branches off, top the tree to make it fit in the box, then clean and prune the roots before bagging the root bundle in damp shredded paper for the trip. So, by buying bare-root, you lose any branching and some height off the tree that has grown in subsequent years.

You really DO NOT want to plant bare-root this late in the year, IMHO.

If they will ship this late in the year as bare-root, I would pot them in a well-draining organic mix with slow-release fertilizer, and put them in a shady place to get established, then pot in-ground in fall.

If ordering shipped (bare-root), you really don't get any choice in what you're getting. My Stella came with a little bit of damage, which I actually need to go wax or tape, now that I think about it.

Granted, there is no reason why you can't go to pick them up, or you could just wait till December to order a bare-root "whip", shipped.

The perk of buying rooted in pots is, the plant has already established itself in its own little world, and will grow into the new world you put it into (i.e. the ground). When you go bare-root, you're pretty limited to a short window of planting time, you're introducing a totally new environment, and the tree will spend its first year getting well-rooted in its new environment.

I know a lot of people who prefer bare-root, just because they swear trees grow up waaaay stronger and happier this way. I personally don't like to do it because of the risk involved. I'm batting about 75% success right now with bare root fruit trees (6 wins, 2 losses) at my current house. My two losses were due to planting right around this time of year (too late), and really crazy weather patterns this time in spring 2009.

I think that's about everything I can share. If you have any other questions, by all means, ask away. If myself or others don't know the answer, I'd sure like to call and ask so I can learn something new! ;)