McMinnville multi-nursery day trip?

[fossiliferous]

Hi all, I currently live about an hour from McMinnville, Tennessee, which bills itself as the “Nursery Capital of the World.”
There are vastly more nurseries down there than I could visit in a single day... around 300 total! I know many of them won’t be great to work with and are meant for those looking to buy in bulk for landscaping. Most likely don’t even have an online presence. If you’ve ever been there, there are just miles and miles of nurseries.

My plan is to find ones that are billing themselves as open to the public. If they have an online presence I will likely call or message ahead and ask if they have ugly or bent things, clearance, a discard pile that hasn’t been burned lately... lol. I plan to just tell them exactly what I’m looking for. Maybe this will cut down on frustration and wasted time. I’ve already located a few based on what they’re selling online, like on Etsy and Ebay, so I know of places growing some types I want. I also don’t want to assume anything about their taking visitors in the midst of social distancing. (If everything is outdoors and close quarters aren’t required for payment, it doesn’t seem risky to me but I want to check.)
Even if I don’t find a nice cheap discard tree, it’s always nice to save a little money by not having to pay shipping on “normal” trees and save them the stress of being put through the postal system.

I saw one other thread from four years ago where somebody posted about McMinnville and it seemed like the whole idea didn’t really go anywhere.

My plan is to take a lot of pictures and take a lot of notes, and report back so that hopefully my findings will be of use to any other members who find themselves in McMinnville looking for interesting trees. If my first attempt is an utter flop, well, I can always go back next time I have a day off and childcare. If it’s a pretty successful adventure though, I may make some kind of guide.

Do you have any tips for making the most of a nursery field trip day?

I’m most interested in the non-leafy parts of trees, so is it OK if I go soon in the winter season? I guess it will be hard to tell if anything is literally dead, but is there any other reason *not* to go soon?
Or is this all just a terrible idea?

Brief note to clarify what I personally am looking for- I am new to bonsai, although I’m stepping into an interest that goes back to childhood. With my own young children at home and lots of things going on, I would like some weird, rough, pre-bonsai things to put in the ground to thicken. I think 5ish years from now I will be really grateful for anything I got and left alone for a while so it could grow. I’m already kicking myself for not getting into bonsai four or five years ago when I first halfway considered it.

I want native trees that tend to bonsai well. I also have non-native interests though. I really love Japanese maples but own zero. For the time being I don’t want anything that can’t live outside here, approximately 7a hardiness zone. Ginkgo is my favorite tree. Hunting online for small ginkgo trees for sale was how I ran across some of the McMinnville options and started thinking about planning a trip.

 

[leatherback]

SOunds like a great trip to take.

My experience with most nurseries is that they focus on straight sticks. Maybe you can do a search for nurseries for landscaping trades. I had found one where they even swapped trees with landscapers. Thay had some insane trees. THe second time I went there it was near-empty. The owner retired and sold off the business which now caters again for the straight sticks.

 

[fossiliferous]

SOunds like a great trip to take.

My experience with most nurseries is that they focus on straight sticks. Maybe you can do a search for nurseries for landscaping trades. I had found one where they even swapped trees with landscapers. Thay had some insane trees. THe second time I went there it was near-empty. The owner retired and sold off the business which now caters again for the straight sticks.

Thank you for the tip!
My locally owned garden center has straight sticks only. They didn’t even have clearance or discards, and they said they only take the best things from local nurseries to sell because people only want perfection for their landscaping. Definitely want to do my research ahead of time!

 

[treesnpots]

I'm here in Nashville and have been researching this very topic. I concur that you should do your research first and call ahead and speak to them about what you are looking for. Some growers are much more inclined than others to deal with the public. Many only want to deal with landscapers or resellers and fill orders (which usually have a minimum). Many of these growers also follow certain standards for tree species, meaning they grow them straight and keep lower branches pruned--not great for bonsai unless you plan to chop them. I think there is more potential for shrubbier species or buying younger trees in quantity.

You may have found this already, but this is a good listing of growers to start from: http://www.tnstate.edu/faculty/ablalock/documents/Sources of Liners in Tennessee.pdf

I am super interested to see what you can come up with, so keep us posted.

 

[fossiliferous]

Update, slow going. I’ve been researching and making some calls in between the chaos of trying to move house and also our family dealing with Covid.
My results thus far have been disappointing. It is hard enough to find a place where they sell to individuals rather than bulk landscaping supply. There may be a couple of places where they at least allow me to pick up locally on orders I make online, but as far as tours and wandering around, there isn’t much. It’s just the nature of the way these businesses are run.
Nevertheless, I could get some decent deals on small trees to stick in the ground, maybe grow over tile, to thicken up and get nice nebari. At least, I can save them the stress of being sent through the postal system. I would still like to make a day of picking up a few trees at least, and having the time to drive around and see if there’s anything that stands out. But we may be on quarantine for a while.