Out of almost two dozen trees that I've purchased from Lowe's (most were clearance leftovers) over the past two to four years, only one looks questionable...a Stanley prune plum, which is still alive but has only a few leaves on it. The rest are growing like weeds, fully leaved out, and blooming. A few of them even produced last year. And every single one of my Stark Bro's trees are doing fabulous. But I don't plant them in the ground as soon as I get them. I pot them up in 3 to 10 gallon containers (depending on the diameter of the tree) for the first couple of years or so, each year putting in a scoop of compost and planting peas in the pots with them to provided added nitrogen. I overwinter by putting the potted trees on the south side of the barn (although a wooden privacy fence would work, too) and mounding a thick blanket of straw over pots, removing the straw come spring. I tend wait until after the 2nd year to plant.
