we grow natives, nut trees, and ornamentals

everything here starts from seed — seed we collect ourselves. we have wild collection sites across new york and new england. plus sources varying from urban street trees nobody else is paying attention to, to university collections to rural roadside ditches. wild collections are documented– we track the provenance for each batch of seedlings. for orchard-grade nut and fruit genetics we go deeper — working directly with the best northeastern breeders, people who have spent decades selecting vigor, commercial yield, and culinary value in our climate. the rest we find ourselves, one tree at a time. we look for mother trees with exceptional forms, cold hardiness, and general ruggedness when we collect seeds from source populations and specimens across new york state and new england.

we currently have 90+ species in production. wild beach plums, orchard grade hazelnuts, locally hardy sweet bay magnolia seedlings are just a few examples.

our operation utilizes low-input, soil-forward methods, relying on natural outdoor stratification, deep field beds, air-prune boxes, and esoteric tactics sitting at the intersection of permaculture and bonsai in order to maximize germination and root health. regenerative practices, no chemical spray, no synthetic fertilizers. all of our trees are grown in biologically active, living soil with intact fungi. our fertility system is built from the land— mountains of wood chips from trees felled on site, piles of manure directly from our co-farming neighbors (shake the tree farm) who share the land, raising their flock of sheep, rabbits, and ducks alongside the nursery— no chemicals, no sterile media, no plastic greenhouses. just time, weather, and careful observation.

currently available — container trees, local delivery

we pot up only the top 5-10% of each seedling cohort — the most vigorous, promising individuals selected from hundreds- the rest become bare-root stock. container trees are available now for free local delivery in southern maine for qualifying orders, with professional installation available on request. or make an appointment to stop by the nursery and browse our potted plant offerings in person.

online plant shop

november 2026 — annual bareroot sale

once a year, for one month, we dig the field beds. bare-root bundles offered at wholesale prices to people who want to plant a lot of good trees. available for mail order shipping nationwide. join the early access list for early access to bareroot inventory.

join the early access list

tree planting + garden services

we also offer local tree planting and one-time garden restoration work across southern maine. if you’re buying trees from us, we’ll plant them — free delivery included.

learn more →

projects in development:

living rootball program
we are developing a line of ball-and-burlap trees grown in living native groundcover — no herbicide, no fungicide-treated burlap, hand-selected specimens with intact mycorrhizae. pairings are chosen to make ecological sense: the tree and its understory companion arrive together, already established.

oddities and rarities
a small and growing collection of plants that don’t belong in a normal nursery catalog. hyper-rare woody endemics from the canarian archipelago, grown from seed. wild-origin american lotus tubers and seeds. houseplants propagated from seeds collected on the streets of delhi and istanbul. inventory is limited, availability unpredictable, and none of it is quite like anything else available in new england.

integrated wildlife program
we are exploring permaculture-style integration of ethical reptile husbandry with nursery production — plants providing habitat and enrichment, animals providing fertility, the whole system closing its own loops, with the goal of becoming a source for an ethical pet trade and teach pet owners how to provide ecologically sound enclosures. long-term ambitions get stranger from there. a greenhouse crocodile lagoon integrated with nursery production of exotic leaf shredding floating tropical pond lilies– and if the geneticists cooperate — the return of mastodons to their rightful habitat– the wildlands of northern maine.

local sales by delivery or appointment.

contact@mooncraternursery.com