Howdy! I would look up the Oklahoma Proven picks. I would not suggest a pear (due to it being easily damaged in storms)or a spruce (due to our heat). If I was going to plant a tree, I would be purchasing a Chinese Pistache and a Nellie r. Stevens Hollie (for an evergreen). For an ornamental option check out an Oklahoma Redbud or a Texas Whitebud.

I hope this helps!

Christina

You got GREAT advice from Christina! Above all, don't grow so called fast growing trees. They are usually weak, and don't hold up to Oklahoma storms.

Moni

Hi, and welcome! I really like the blue spruce too, and when I started gardening in Oklahoma I looked for something similar that could survive the heat. The Blue Atlas cedar is somewhat similar, and much better suited to our climate and soil. There is a dwarf variety called Horstmann that is a lot smaller if you are looking for that. Also, I have seen some deodora cedars with very blue needles at TLC and elsewhere.

Not too good a rating on that "other" website "XXXden Watchdog". About half and half as to negative versus positive responses. I would definitely question this company.

Susan

im starting to be less and less of a fan of ornamental trees, with one exception. I planted a Yoshino cherry about 8 years ago and it is a beautiful tree. The flowers in spring are so amazing. It has been through 50 60 mph winds without hardly dropping a leaf let alone limbs. For now on if I plant a tree it will provide fruit, nuts, or good fire or smoking wood(which for me typically fruit and nut trees)

Anyone bought from the Arbor Day Foundation? their prices seem reasonable but from what I understand they are small 2-3 feet. Watchdog has some unfavorable reviews also.

Mom and Dad ordered some trees from Starks and they have done good.

mike

This post was edited by mksmth on Wed, Feb 20, 13 at 9:44

Thank you for all the advice! I will definitely have to check out some of those evergreen options--I need something to look at in the winter! Mike--I'm also leaning towards more dual-purpose trees...the Cleveland pear was just $2 and in a blank yard it was at least something! I'm considering digging it up and putting in a plum or peach tree--any suggestions? Also, I live north of Oklahoma city--any reputable nurseries you'd recommend?

Mike, I joined the Arbor Day Foundation in Texas in the early 1980s when we bought our first home. I never purchased a tree from them, but the 10 "free trees" they sent when you joined were ten sticks about 8-12" tall. We planted all of them and only 2 of those leafed out. Tim then mowed them down one day while mowing because they were so short he forgot they were there.

Personally, after reading the reviews I wouldn't buy anything from them.

Solorya, About the only thing you need to know about fast-growing trees is that they tend to be weak-wooded, which makes them fast-dying trees too. It is always better to plant a higher-quality tree. The growth will be slower, but the tree will be healthier and is more likely to live for decades, not for a few years.

I'm linking an OSU Fact Sheet with recommended fruit varieties for OK. In most of OK, it is easier to get a good crop from stone fruit trees like peach or plum than pome fruit like apples or pears. In our yard we have grown Ranger, Redhaven, July Elberta and one other one peach tree whose name I no longer remember. With plums we have Methley, Santa Rosa and native Mexican plums. You won't get a crop every year because sometimes the fruit trees bloom too early and the flowers or young fruit freeze, but in the years when you get fruit, you get a lot of it.

If you want to landscape your yard with other edible fruit plants, you could put a row of blackberry plants along a fence line, and also could grow figs, grapes or strawberries. You can grow blueberries if you either have soil that is naturally acidic and drains well, or if you are willing to amend alkaline soil to make it more acidic and to improve the drainage if needed, or you even can grow blueberries in containers.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Fruit Planting Guide

I have had good luck with a pie cherry tree that I had for years. I also had pear trees for years. My experience with peach and plum is that you have to spray. Mine got borers. All fruit trees eventually died but I have lived here since 1978. The pear tree was tall and the fruit fell and brought yellow jackets. I am not that fond of lots of pears at once. Think what you really want before you put in a tree. I actually like my ornamental pear but it a columnar form. The other one a Bradford had some fire blight last year but it has lasted longer than any peach or plum I've grown. My sister in CA has wonderful plums so much better than the store. If they succeed where you live, they would be great I just have not had any success with them. I like my crab apple that has small apples for birds. It gets no care but it has grown into a really big tree - you wouldn't want it close to your house. When it blooms it is fragrant and hums with bees. I have trimmed all the lower branches so the bees don't bother anything.

I love Fast-growing-trees.com - NOW! (Note the NOW)! In the past I think they were too small to handle the demand and the customer service was subpar. I gave them a second chance during one sale last year- Arbor Day or Earth Day- I can't remember which, but it was the one where they gave free Empress trees with each order every year. I have been ordering ever since, and I haven't had a problem. My mom (in TX) did receive a tree recently that was either dead or dying when it arrived, but that could have been due to the temps in the FedEx or UPS truck during extreme TX heat. Either way, they have like a One Year Guarantee on their trees or something, and she got a replacement with no problem.

Someone mentioned Arbor Day- I LOVE them, especially for information. they have a little guide on their site for when and where to plant your trees to lower your energy costs and with 4 kids, my husband and I need all the savings we can get! ONE THING to note though is that the reason they are cheaper than a lot of other sites is because they ONLY send bareroot trees, which have a higher chance of dying during shipment.

I would say give Fast Growing Trees a shot, but during one of the sales (I said I love savings0. It can't hurt - you have a money-back or replacement-tree guarantee (not sure if its still a year though)

Helen,

I am sorry that peaches and plums don't do well for you. There's nothing more wonderful than walking out into the yard and picking a peach off the tree and eating it right there in the yard with the sun shining and the juice dripping down your chin.

I have grown peaches and plums for about 25-30 years and never have sprayed them for anything. Before that, when I was still a kid living at home, my dad grew them throughout my childhood and young adulthood and he never sprayed them either.

Will fruit trees sometimes become borer-infested and die? Yes, they will. I am happy if my plum trees last 10 years before borers get them. Three of our plum trees are roughly 11 or 12 years old and still are doing fine and remain highly productive. The peach trees are more prone to get borers than the plums are and mine usually last maybe 8 years. I have replaced two peach trees the last three years. One of them lived 8 years and the other lived for 10 years. Replacing a tree lost to borers occasionally is the price we pay at our house for having many years of organic fruit. I know that not spraying doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me.

One thing I have noticed is that you have healthy trees more often if they have healthy soil, so I work to keep the soil and trees healthy---not by amending the soil but by adding amendments on top of the ground in the form of mulch. The soil-dwelling insects and earthworms as well as the rain help carry the nutrients from the amendments and mulch down into the ground.

I have two neighbors near me who don't even spray their apples, but that does mean they have a lot of pest issues with the apples. I don't think I'd attempt apples without spraying based on all the trouble I've seen them have.

Dawn

J Rivera

I hope you are sincere and not just here to promote those sites. Making fake reviews is terrible.
You just signed up today and posted here. Makes me think you are affiliated with them.

Mike

Dawn you make me want to try plums again. I've heard of people getting a tummy ache from eating too much fruit. That is the only thing that slowed me down the time I visited my sister when the plums where ripe. I ate so many and they were good.

I hadn't thought of considering fruit trees a temporary thing. When I plant a tree I expect it to live for years and years. Then I wondered why I don't see plums at the Farmer's Market here if I am the only one who can't grow them. I think fruit trees do take care for success and you can't live in a frost pocket. My house is in a valley and we often warm up in spring and go back to winter again.

I recently planted two pie cherries in the worst hot, dry summer ever. The big one had a bagged root ball. I took the bagging material off even though they said you could plant it. I could not keep it watered. The other was a tiny mail order bare root tree. The small one lived and grew fast. I also ordered three very expensive bush cherries from Canada. They came as tiny twigs so I put them in pots. They also grew very fast. I don't know how they will do in my climate. I would very much like to have a cherry tree again because my other one was attractive and had fruit every year.

HaHa, Mike they don't pay me to endorse them. I have a whole list of sites (and local nurseries) that I love and a whole list that I'm not quite fond of. I have a cute perennial garden and just started my vegetable garden recently. So I signed up to like 5 forums over the last 3 days. I don't get the suspicion though. We are all adults (I assume) and you can take my recommendations at value or ignore them. It doesn't matter either way, the choice is yours. (Besides I think those two sites are probably direct competitors anyways. I do love them both though).

Play nice, Mike. It's just a gardening forum. And if you'd like me to recommend any sites for you I may be able to! Ta Ta For Now!

.

This post was edited by J_Rivera on Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 15:05

Helen, I am in a frost pocket. Most of our county...except maybe for the folks in the northernmost portion of the county ...lies in the Red River Valley. I'm way down south, so definitely in the valley, and then our entire property is a creek hollow, with higher ground on all 4 side of us. It does cause me trouble with fruit tree blossoms or young fruit freezing out, but I still get a decent harvest.

How much of a frost pocket? Our "average last freeze date" is March 27th. We routinely have hard killing freezes in at least the first two weeks of April, and we have had a killing freeze on May 3rd or 4th in 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008. Despite that, I had great fruit harvests in 3 or those 4 years I think.

I just plant the fruit trees as high as I can on our property, which slopes downhill from south to north and from west to east, and I chose varieties with the highest chilling hours I can find. although that does not necessarily help.

I have a friend who lives on significantly higher ground less than a mile southeast of us and he can grow apricots and cherries because they don't freeze at his house on higher ground like they would here. One of these days I may throw caution to the wind and plant an apricot and a cherry anyhow.

In your area, I wonder if yall have significantly more humidity and if that is hard on fruit trees there. My area has good high humidity most springs, but in the summers it can stay really low and that might discourage some of the common fungal diseases that plague fruit trees.

Dawn

We used to have humidity my relatives from N Central Kansas couldn't take it here. But I have had drought the last two years.

Dawn I think I just expected trees to live longer. The plums and peaches got borers, I didn't have them long enough to worry about rot or fungus diseases.

This is an old apple, strawberry area but on the hills. My hills are steep but mostly covered in oak trees and walnut in the hollow, so I don't have a good slope available. I could clear the honeysuckle and blackberry and make a place just outside my yard on a steep slope that I fenced out because it was too hard to mow.

I see why you carry plants in and out. You get warm early but your freezes are as late as mine. Your energy amazes me.

I've had good luck with the Arbor Day's 10 free trees, sort of. A couple died but most have grown fine over the past two years but I was planning on moving a golden raintree this winter until this fall when I realized it was a rose of sharron. It hadn't been big enough for me to be able to realize this before then. I love the RoS so that's fine with me but there you go.

Something I'm trying this year is grafting sweet cherries onto an indian cherry stock. My Indian Cherry can't be stopped. It only grudgingly gave up its last leaves a month ago just in time to make way for the new buds. Sweet cherries aren't supposed to do well here but I'm hoping that they'll make it if grafted onto a native stock. ??? We'll see, I guess.

I have received nothing but excellent customer services from Fast-Growing-Trees.com I feel many companies these days lack basic customer service skills. Not with these guys.

They go above and beyond and are super helpful of determining questions ahead of time to save you time. (Thanks Robin) If I email them, I get a response the same day or if I call them, I'm never on hold for more than a min. You get a rep located in the US that actually wants and enjoys talking to you.

I've purchased 56 green arborvitaes to outline my front and back yard. Out of those 56, I had 2 die. I called FGT and they sent out 2 more, no questions asked, no back and forth, no hassle. They are so easy to work with. I couldn't imagine not purchasing my indoor and outdoor plants with them.

I would avoid. I fell for "gotta sell trees because too big" pitch 2wks ago Received $600 worth of over priced sticks.$60 Jap Maple is literally a 30" stick in a quart pot. Maybe Lowes not so bad, if you kill it they take it back??

Dawn, what peach trees do you like? Thinking about putting one in our south, sunny back yard near Midwest City (OKC).

Carrie

Stay away from these folks, they are great marketers & not so great growers.. I fell fell for the "our trees are too big" sale last January & that weren't. Size will be at bottom of range. Jap Maple was a 36" stick w/no branches. You'll do better at big box store, remember they guarantee theirs. You can kill your plant & return the carcass to Lowes for a refund.

Horrible. Olive tree arrived with scale. Slowly died despite attempts to save it. Company refuses to respond. Save your money and visit a local nursery.

Stuff has been hit or miss over the years.

The issue that I have is that they filter their reviews. I gave a review for 2 items on 1 orders. The 5 star review made it. The 2 star review is not there.

Very poor quality poor management no customer service avoid at all cost

i wouldn't recommend them i had a meyer lemon tree that died in about four months/ no refunds nothing from them!!

I would not recommend you but any trees from this company. My fiddle tree arrived damaged and rotten and when I sought help they refused refund and wanted me to buy a warranty for store credit. Apparently I was just outside the 30 day window. The customer service was very poor, these trees are expensive and if there is a problem they will not go above and beyond to help you. The tree was shipped poorly. My fiddle tree is dying and they are unwilling to refund my money. Please do not shop with them!

I ordered 17 trees for almost $2000. They were all planted in the same field and treated the same. 13 survived and 4 died. FGT refused to do anything to replace the ones they shipped dead. They tried to get me to buy a warranty for over $300 and that would only give me store credit and not cover shipping either. The worst part is the larger trees I bought that were 6'-7' I had to pay extra for the size and even more for shipping... these were the ones that died. They didn't ship in a larger box. Instead they were root pruned so heavily that they died. None of the 13 that survived flowered or fruited in the first year either. I would definitely shop elsewhere with someone who will take care of their customers.

Dont buy from them, very bad business. They won’t refund and the plants arrived damaged and burnt.

I recently ordered from them, not knowing my order would come from China. The only tracking number they could provide was the one from China Post. I knew for a fact that these deliveries get transferred to USPS. Never got one from USPS. Tracked the shipment via Track17. Until one day, it said it was delivered, but I did not receive anything. Communicated the problem and they insisted that it was delivered to the right address, that neighbors might have received it. My neighbors know me and they'd surely give me the misdelivered item, which has happened in the past. We went back and forth on the refund. Finally settled on 50% refund. The first and the last order from them. Be warned. Sounds more like a scam now to me.

Plant - or I should say ONE sprout (strawberry) arrived in a box filled with dirt. Sprout was half dead on delivery. NO protection was given to the sprout during shipment, hence the paltry item I received. Reached out for "their replacement guarantee" - No response as to a replacement. AVOID THIS COMPANY! They over-charge for very young plants and don't stand behind their warrantee! AVOID

Plant - or I should say ONE sprout(strawberry) arrived in a box filled with dirt. Sprout was half dead on delivery. NO protection was given to the sprout during shipment, hence the paltry item I received. Reached out for "their replacement guarantee" - No response as to a replacement. AVOID THIS COMPANY! They over-charge for very young plants and don't stand behind their warrantee! AVOID

I want to weigh in on this. At first, I thought I was being scammed, as my trees arrived broken. But, I contacted Fast Growing Trees via their customer service email and they sent me new trees immediately. The new ones arrived in great condition only 4 days after the initial trees arrived. I still planted the broken ones and will see what happens. I felt well taken care of by them.