Mossy Oak Nativ Nurseries Fruit Trees?

blueKYstream

5 year old buck +
I planted 50 chestnut and 100 persimmon from state nurseries last year and they seem to be doing well. I planted 6 Kiefer pears from Tractor Supply and 5 died. i don't think the root system was viable when planted. This year I was hoping to plant some pears, crab apple trees, and paw paw trees (though I won't be planting nearly as many as last year). Most places are about $30 a tree, but Nativ Nurseries sells them for much less.

Does anyone have any experience with Nativ Nursery, particularly the pears or crab apples? It sounds like drop times are going to vary widely from tree to tree I'm guessing. I think the crab apples will be OK in Kentucky's humidity and cedar infested habitat but I've never grown them. I'm just curious what your thoughts might be on the nursery or what they offer. Thanks!

"Wild" Crab Apple (Malus spp.)
Our “wild” crabs are actually seedlings from our favorite crabapple selections and wild types such as: Dolgo, Transendent, Chestnut, Centennial, Whitney, and Prairie crab. Having a mixed bag of genetics and drop times from hardy, heavy bearing, disease tolerant favorites in an economical, and simple to establish and maintain rapid mast seedling should be a no-brainer to anyone wanting to spread some apple madness on their place.

Wild "Deer" Pear (Pyrus Communis)
These are seedlings from “pears gone wild” that we find thriving around fencerows, yard edges, and railroad tracks in the prairies surrounding our nursery. Their rootstocks that were so common to the landscape back when folks were more into growing and preserving fruits for jellies, preserves, and drink.
 
I planted ~30 of their wild deer pears in October 2017. They doubled in size by October 2018. No fruit yet obviously but they are hearty vigorous growers. I'm in western NC, zone 6.
 
Ive got 10 of the Nativ Nursuries deer pears. I planted 5 in 2016 and 5 in 2017. They grow like weeds. Time will tell on the fruit.
 
I'm glad to hear they are growing well for you weekender21 and ksgobbler! I hadn't seen a whole lot of people discuss them here, so I was curious about the nursery as well as the tree varieties. It'll be interesting hearing, or if not before then seeing, what time of year the pears and crab apples drop. It sounds like it's a mix of a variety of species, so I can't imagine each tree will drop at the same time. Hard to know for sure though.
 
If these are your first apples and pears I would go with some apples native hunter grows. Black limbertwig Yates bevans favorite enterprise Roxbury Russet and old fashioned limbertwig depending on what drop times you want. Once you have these in the ground and you know for sure they will be fine for disease start getting into some of the seedling crabs from nativ nursieries. To me it’s too risky to get something like that and then it get destroyed with fire blight in 5-10 years once it starts blooming. They are more than likely fine especially if you wanted to top work them to certain varieties but it’s better to start off with known varieties for your area before getting into seedlings. The above varieties can be had at century farms for about 18 per tree if you get ten plus and that’s including shipping. Not really what you asked but the few apple seedlings I have grown or bought had car pretty bad. The pears I’ve grown usually end up like a thorny Bradford type. Both of which can be top worked to better pears/apples.
 
I planted 9 wild crabs from them in the fall of 2014. They have grown like crazy and have produced a lot of apples the last 2 years. 2 of them get car pretty bad and 2 of them have very small crab apples.
 
If these are your first apples and pears I would go with some apples native hunter grows. Black limbertwig Yates bevans favorite enterprise Roxbury Russet and old fashioned limbertwig depending on what drop times you want. Once you have these in the ground and you know for sure they will be fine for disease start getting into some of the seedling crabs from nativ nursieries. To me it’s too risky to get something like that and then it get destroyed with fire blight in 5-10 years once it starts blooming. They are more than likely fine especially if you wanted to top work them to certain varieties but it’s better to start off with known varieties for your area before getting into seedlings. The above varieties can be had at century farms for about 18 per tree if you get ten plus and that’s including shipping. Not really what you asked but the few apple seedlings I have grown or bought had car pretty bad. The pears I’ve grown usually end up like a thorny Bradford type. Both of which can be top worked to better pears/apples.

I was under the impression that crab apples were more disease resistant than apple trees, which is why I was thinking of going with them. I'm not familiar with those varieties you list, but I imagine they are apple trees. I don't know enough about a spray regiment or top working apple trees at this point. With just under 500 acres and a family too, I have my hands full with projects all the time. I don't want to give myself more unnecessary projects. If it can't survive on it's own beyond perhaps a couple years of moderate help, then it's not worth the trouble to me.

I was figuring the crab apples from what seemed like a hardy list of possible parent trees at Nativ Nurseries would in fact be disease resistant and good for wildlife/hunting. Is that not the case as you see it? The issue I see with Century Farms Orchards is that they don't have any pear trees on their inventory list. I think pears should be a hardier tree than apples here. I figure having each is insurance against the other's failure (whether that be an annual failure or total failure).

I had seen Native Hunter's posts about apples and accidentally closed the tab. I found it again and I'm copying over the varieties for myself or others that might reference back to it.

Apples
  • Liberty
  • Priscilla
  • Arkansas Black
  • Dozier Crab
  • Yates
  • Betsey Deaton
  • Black Limbertwig
  • Black Oxford
  • Horse
Pears
  • Kieffer
  • Moonglow
  • Gallaway
  • Ayers
  • Senator Clark
  • Several different ones that Wildlife Group sells that they advertise as fireblight resistant. Read the descriptions on the web site and decide which you want. Just make sure they are disease resistant.
 
Last edited:
Nothing magic about crab apples. There are lots of disease resistant apple varieties and plenty of lousy crab apples. There are varieties of apples and crabs that do well most places and guys like Native have ones already trialed near you. Grafted apples and crabs are the best way to ensure that each tree you plant is a good choice and put into a good location. On the other hand, you can plant crab apple seedlings and get a variety of genetics with varying fruit size, ripening times, and disease resistance. Both approaches have their pros and cons, successes and disappointments.
 
Last edited:
I planted 9 wild crabs from them in the fall of 2014. They have grown like crazy and have produced a lot of apples the last 2 years. 2 of them get car pretty bad and 2 of them have very small crab apples.

Do your "Wild" Crab Apples Trees drop at the same time roughly or do they drop at different times? I'm also curious if they power through the CAR or if it is a big concern? I'm guessing if you get it in Virginia, I would get it equally as bad or perhaps worse. I'm not sure if you've grown any other varieties for comparison sake, but are you happy with your crab apples from Nativ Nursery?
 
Nothing magic about crab apples. There are lots of disease resistant apple varieties and plenty of lousy crab apples. There are varieties of apples and crabs that do well most places and guys like Native have ones already trialed near you. Grafted apples and crabs are the best way to ensure that each tree you plant is a good choice and put into a good location. On the other hand, you can plant crab apple seedlings and get a variety of genetics with varying fruit size, ripening times, and disease resistance. Both approaches have their pros and cons, successes and disappointments.

That's helpful knowing that it's more about the cultivar than whether it's an apple or crab apple. I'm not necessarily planting an orchard, so as long as wildlife like it and it grows well, those are the main things. It'd be nice to spend $6 on a tree rather than $18 or $20, so long as they produce similarly. Having Native Hunters list that grows well really close to me is definitely helpful! If I can't get a good idea on if the "Wild" Crab Apples and Pears will work for me, then I may cut my order down a tad and order from Century Farms or something like that (not sure what other orchards might have a good stock left). Thanks for the help!
 
I live 4600 miles from our property at the moment. I've considered all the pros and cons and decided a very diversified approach was logical for my situation. I've spent lots of time and money planting grafted trees (cage, weed mat, window screen, bucket) and spent little time and money planting saplings from Nativ Nursery's (Little hole, 5' tube). Trees are thriving in each scenario and I'd have to be unhappy with A LOT of seedlings (75%+) to make me regret adding them. I like the idea of having some known species with know characteristics and drop times while filling in the rest of a spot with seedlings for added attraction.
 
I live 4600 miles from our property at the moment

That's a lot of miles. Even if it's a typo 460 is an awful lot too.
 
I am in a totally different climate and know nothing about the supplier you mentioned.

However, crabs are more forgiving for requiring care than larger apples in my climate.

I have purchased seedlings from Morse and have grown four or more batches of seedlings from my own collections. Some were from wild crabs and some from domestic crabs such as dolgo.

I purchased dolgo seedlings. My wife’s Grandma grew apples and crabs from seeds for years and had them on a handful plus of homesteads.

In all sources, the results are variability. Variability in getting CAR, in winter hardiness, in apple size, in scab disease, in apple color, in growth rate of the tree, in taste of the apples.
And there are some great seedlings in the mix.

Think of a large family, one brother is 6 foot 2 and one is 5 foot seven. One is bald. One isn’t. One gets cancer, one doesn’t. One can take winter cold, one doesn’t.
Not quite the same, but a comparison.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
One final comment. Buy seedlings that have a chance of surviving in your area. Only one or two Morse trees were hardy in my climate.

You need seed from trees that have a chance of getting CAR resistant genes.

Chestnut and Dolgo have those genes, but still a few of the seedlings are covered by CAR.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I didn’t say anything about pears because I haven’t seen them priced anywhere at the 18 mark. I bet you could look around your property and find some wild Bradford types growing and top work them for essentially nothing but time.
Also buying and planting rootstocks in their final locations to top work later would give you lots of options too. They are cheaper than the nativ nursery trees and you could put whatever apples or pears you want on them. Honestly planting those persimmons might be the best thing you could have done you can bark graft those later and put persimmon on the ground from sep to Jan and they have no disease issues. The hard part with apples beside disease is finding one that fits that gun season time frame most are off before then.
 
Do your "Wild" Crab Apples Trees drop at the same time roughly or do they drop at different times? I'm also curious if they power through the CAR or if it is a big concern? I'm guessing if you get it in Virginia, I would get it equally as bad or perhaps worse. I'm not sure if you've grown any other varieties for comparison sake, but are you happy with your crab apples from Nativ Nursery?
All the trees look like different varieties and also have different drop times. The CAR has been really bad on 2 of them and appears to have stunted their growth. If I could do it over and cost wasn't a concern, I would buy grafted known varieties. I do think they are were it though. I just didn't expect some of them to have tiny crab apples ( less then 1/4").
 
I planted 10 apple and 10 pear from NN 6 years ago. All have grown and fruited, many after just 3 years. For $6 a tree it's a decent deal. The fruits are small (less than 1") on all of them and the apple do have moderate CAR but overall I'm happy w them.
I have topworked many of them with different pear and apple varieties and turned many into multi-varietal trees. They were a great introduction to fruit tree growing for me.

On the other hand, I bought grafted apples from them and they sucked. Many died. Most did very poorly. They replaced them free of charge but confessed in the process that they were getting out of the grafted apple tree business. They were also not sure what rootstock they were on. I would NOT buy any grafted apples from them.
 
It sounds like I'm probably better off getting some known cultivars of apples/crab apples/pears and buying fewer, if need be, based on most everyone's responses. I feel a bit intimidated trying to top work these trees. I guess if I were to do that down the road, some online nursery would sell scions to do it with? Either way, I am probably more comfortable buying grafted trees.

I have been looking at the map for hours thinking about how many to get, the different cultivars Native Hunter grows well here in KY, where exactly to get them from and where to put them. Do most of these nurseries sell out of their stock soon or is there time to consider the options? Willis Orchards offers a nice variety and price, but I haven't read such great things about them.
 
Last edited:
I live 4600 miles from our property at the moment

I feel your pain. I'm about 4000 miles from my place. The logistics of organizing trees and root stock are a nightmare. Just making a phone call to a local business there costs about $10.
 
Top