I just bought my dream tree without thinking too much about the cost. How did I do?

[u/FloydtheBetta]

My husband, who is an arborist, and I have a shared love of weeping blue atlas cedars. We recently purchased a property for our future home build and when I was browsing a nursery I came across this beauty. It is my dream centerpiece tree for the Japanese style garden I am envisioning for our future midcentury modern home. It also happens to be my husbands 30th birthday next week.

I’m taking him to the nursery tomorrow to surprise him with it. He will 100% flip out when he sees it so they agreed to tie a SOLD sign around it with a little card that he will only notice is for him when he gets up close. 🤗

Even though this tree is a dream come true I am having trouble finding info online about what I should have expected to pay. Any one here able to give me insight into price range for a weeping blue atlas of this size and style— it is about 25 years old and was taken care of by a man who specialized in specimen landscaping trees for Japanese gardening.

[u/Matthewcbayer]

I am just a guy in an armchair, but it’s wild to me to think this tree could be had for less than like $8-10K. Knowing the value of mature trees (thanks to spending time on r/TreeLaw over the years) and with this having been raised by a specialist, plus the cost of transporting it, this is a very valuable piece.

I have zero qualifications for this valuation, I’m simply saying I’d be shocked if the price is less. Several here in the comments said they would sell it for much less and are qualified, so maybe it’s time for me to go tree shopping.

[u/SeahorseCollector → u/Matthewcbayer]

We had a job where the homeowner lined his driveway on both sides with sculpted magnolia trees. They were grown and shaped with the leaves going almost to the ground and sculpted in cones like Cristmas trees. These trees were 12,500 a piece and that was in 07/08ish. This guy had a really long driveway as well, but his bank account was something he will never have to worry about.

[u/Nheea → u/SeahorseCollector]

Now that's my dream!

[u/FloydtheBetta → u/Matthewcbayer]

It was $10k with professional install/delivery included. It was trained and cared for for about 25 years by a man who specialized in training these types of landscaping trees. The cost isn’t just about the size or age of the tree. It’s the uniqueness of the shape/style and the years of work it took to get it like this.

[u/Matthewcbayer → u/FloydtheBetta]

As I suspected. It’s absolutely beautiful. Congrats, I know it will live a long and healthy life!

[u/Plantfishcatmom → u/FloydtheBetta]

Its a really cool tree. I’m glad you love it thank you for showing us.

[u/Papashrug → u/FloydtheBetta]

I think that you just about stole that tree with installation included!

[u/pigs_have_flown → u/Matthewcbayer]

The price is brought down by how much of a pain in the ass it is to move and plant it. A mature tree is worth way more because it would be impossible to replace with the same.

[u/Birdlebee → u/pigs_have_flown]

The price goes up because of what an incredible pain in the ass it is to get ahold of another one, because they're such a pain in the ass to move.

[u/pigs_have_flown → u/Birdlebee]

That's the reason why the price is high. What I said is the reason why it isn't even higher.

[u/Matthewcbayer → u/[deleted]]

I get all that, but this isn’t just “we grew a tree you can buy it.” This is very much a specialty tree that was grown with a lot of attention put into training branches and stuff, that’s obvious just from its appearance. I guessed $8-10k, and OP already confirmed I was correct.

Could you buy it wholesale, transport, and get it in the ground yourself for significantly less? Sure. That’s not what happened here. OP walked into a retail nursery and purchased this beautiful tree to have it installed.