Is there some secret way to get inexpensive trees? I bought a serviceberry tree and a serviceberry clump (the bushy one) yesterday to replace some burning bushes and the price was a shock ($375 plus delivery). I still have more bushes to remove and replace throughout the yard, how can I get my hands on some cheaper plants? Is FB marketplace reliable for natives? Located in NW PA.
Yard bunny just for show, very welcome friend in my garden.
by UrWeirdILikeU
28 Comments
No, FB is not necessarily a reliable place for natives. Stick with native plant growers and nurseries.
If you want to reduce the cost, the easiest option is getting smaller trees. Another big cost saver is avoiding delivery and picking them up yourself. If you are buying in large quantities, you can buy directly from tree growers in some cases.
Young bare root trees from local native plant sales. I got three Allegheny serviceberry seedlings for $15 in 2024. They won’t flower for another year or two, but they will be stronger for having developed in place (instead of transplanting when older).
Here are some in PA https://www.panativeplantsociety.org/plant-sales-and-festivals—featuring-natives.html
The price of trees is largely dependent on size. I paid $50 for a serviceberry that was young. Also, look at smaller local nurseries instead of big corporate nurseries
Do you need larger trees? If not, you could buy smaller sizes or consider growing from seed. Also, I haven’t tried any but it seems like bare root can be less expensive.
If you have some native trees in your yard that you like, I wonder if you could offer a trade and see if anyone locally, on Reddit, or elsewhere would be interested in a swap if you collected the seeds and/or offered cuttings.
Are you part of an organization that focuses on native plants? Sometimes there are helpful resources from organizations that specialize in a topic.
Good luck!
Find your closest group of watershed stewards. They will be associated with 4H or Penn State extension service. They have native plants for sale.
My recommendation is to learn how to plant a tree and start small.
Biggest obstacle is a proper hole and not planting above root flare. And watering. Nothing worse than spending $$ on plants and expecting Mother Nature to properly water.
Protect young trees from browsing with fencing.
I’m not sure if there is a PA equivalent site. I’m down in VA and have gotten great use out of buyvatrees.com through vdof. Maybe check the PA dept of forestry for resources. Not all natives but plenty of them and extremely reasonable prices.
I thought you were going to say the bunny ate your new tree and you were looking for a recipe for rabbit stew!
Do you know any other native gardeners in your area or gardening clubs? They may be able to share some plants or have a bead on where they can be obtained cheaply.
Where I live there is a non profit organization that gives a free native tree to county residents each year if we dig a hole for it. There is a selection of about 6 trees to choose from based on size, etc. You can see if there are any similar nonprofits in your area.
Arbor day foundation! Non profit cheap! For rare species I buy saplings on Etsy
Go Native Tree Farm is in PA and I just bought a whole slew of trees from the guy at a plant sale in VA last weekend. Nice old guy with a huge selection of native and hard to find trees. Reasonably priced as well. He gave me a bunch of advice on planting the odd balls (table mountain pine and American chestnut). Worth checking out!
I’m in Canada so can’t refer you any nurseries, but many of our counties hold semi-annual tree give-aways for rural property owners, then hand out whatever is left to regular property owners. We also have a few naturalist organizations who hold plant sales where they sell native trees and plant species at very affordable prices (like $10-15 trees). If you have a local conservation authority they might have some resources to share with you.
Check Arbor Day foundation? I made a 20 dollar donation the other day and they’re sending me ten saplings. Not going to be able to pick them, but beats hundreds of dollars? lol
Virginia forestry or your states forestry department should have a sapling store. Va forestry site is $3 bucks per sapling and goes down in price with larger purchases
A lot of great options in here, another one is the US forestry service. I’m a Master Gardener, and we partner with them for a program called good from the woods where we go to every grade level in the county to give a presentation on the importance of healthy forests, and every student gets a sapling to take home. You can call your local agricultural extension office and request the same thing! They will be small, they’re usually about the size of a pencil, but usually grow very well with proper care.
If you’ve got a bunny or deer problem on your property, put a cage around your plants, like this:
https://preview.redd.it/zhkbkhrdvhsf1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87237b644287e66e37ac0a2a23648b6c481b352b
Not sure how many natives they offer, but I got 2 crabapples (for the birds) from fastgrowingtrees.com and they were dirt cheap. They were super tiny things (maybe 1/2″ in diameter and 3ft tall) so they adjusted really well when I planted them 2 falls ago. They are doing great and it was about $100 for two trees, shipping, and warranty coverage for 1yr.
Now they are easily 7ft tall and 2″ or more in diameter on the trunk. They both flowered and produced tiny crabapples this year.
the f? ok this place has a bad reputation but I got a bunch of spice bush, red chokecherry and black chokeberry form them, first ones died but they did eventually replace them so if you need to buy a lot I think they are an option based on how you just got ripped off: [https://www.tnnursery.net](https://www.tnnursery.net)
Check out your county or neighboring county online for a tree program. In my experience, they have select bare root conifers, deciduous and fruit bearing trees from 1-2 ft tall, $25 for a cluster. (Cluster is usually at least 25 plants or more)
All my Google searches for native plants retailers in my area only ever came up with the really expensive big stores. But – we have an organization in MA called GrowMass and they had a page of native plant retailers, some super small and super local to me that sell at different farmers markets. But it took a lucky rabbit hole to find though.
It’s a great project for a snowy winter day 😉
It’s the time of year. Anything left at this time of year will be large and expensive. Try the same nursery in early spring. Actually ask them now when they will start selling in the spring. It can be quite early.
I know most people on Native Plant forums hate arborday.org but I’ve always been able to get inexpensive natives from them, but you have to do your research because they also sell a lot of non-natives too. Anyway, I’ve done their “10 free trees” deal several times and have always received good, viable trees. I’ve read a lot of complaints from people who say they received dead trees. But I suspect a lot of those complaints are from people who don’t understand how “bare root” trees are shipped. Yes a lot of them look dead when you receive them and yes, many of them look like no more than twigs with roots, but if you follow the planting instructions to the letter, the trees will grow. I always soak the roots in a bucket of water overnight before planting the very next day after I receive them. You can’t let them lay around.
The last time I got a round of trees (two years ago), every single one was native. Red oak, pin oak, white oak, silver maple, red maple, sugar maple, American redbud, white flowering dogwood – all still alive and well – and a couple of pines I wasn’t too interested in that I planted in our woods and have lost track of – they may still be alive for all I know.
In previous years, at our previous home, we simply didn’t have the room for all ten trees so we gave away excess and kept one or two. Pin oak, River Birch and Sweet Bay Magnolia all took and grew well. The oak towered over the house in about 15 years. We had also bought American arborvitae in bulk from them for a privacy hedge along the property line. We bought 25, and they gave us 30. Every single one survived! I forget what we paid (this was probably 18 years ago) but I think it was less than a dollar per arborvitae. Again, in 15 years, they were all thriving and some were up to the 2nd storey of the house.
Long story short, you don’t have to buy from that company. There are other companies that sell bare root trees, but that’s the only company I’ve dealt with. Lots of other people say they’ve had problems with that company but that has not been my experience.
It seems to depend on the nursery. One near me that specializes in natives is very expensive. They were charging $45 for a spice bush that was not even worthy of being called a bush. I found a person selling natives at a farmer’s market at a much more reasonable price. My city also has a civic garden center that does a Fall Native plant sale where they sell plants alongside other vendors that they have invited.
In a comment someone mentioned swaps and you replied that you had hostas, Solomon’s seal, lilacs, and I don’t remember what else. People love all of those.
In my area many libraries have plant exchanges in the spring and fall. Some community groups and other organizations also have them. I’ve seen amazing trees and shrubs at them as well as all sorts of native plants.
Yes get small trees. They grow fast. $25-50
The more native plants you have, the more the birds will plant volunteers for you!
I got a free elderberry this year!
Check for native plant sales and special giveaways. I just moved to Virginia and have gone to several in the last few weeks. I’ve gotten about 20 trees and shrubs for $5-11 in gallon containers. (Some were “free,” but I chose to donate a small amount to the program.) Virginia Native Plant Society and Tree Fredericksburg are two that I went through.
Join any arbor groups around sometimes they give away free trees…
We should start a reddit plant exchange.
I have a couple of baby Burr Oaks that need a home if you want to travel to Iowa 😆
I’m not sure this exactly answers your question, but depending on where you are in NWPA (I’m in SW Pennsyltucky, so howdy neighbor!) it may be worth it to make a trip to Arcadia Natives in Washington, PA! They are a fantastic family run native nursery and they have very reasonable prices and are running a awesome sale throught he end of October!