Discover the Pawpaw Difference
What is a Pawpaw?
The pawpaw tree is a native fruit-producing tree known as a favorite tree of President Thomas Jefferson. They have fruits high in vitamins and antioxidants, and these fruits cannot be purchased in grocery stores.
Taste the Difference
Pawpaw is a native tree with tropical-tasting fruit. The taste is between a mango, peach, and banana. The fruit ripens in late summer and early fall, and wildlife adores it. It is a very sweet-tasting fruit, and the tree is cold-hardy down to about -20°F (zone 5).
Our Growing Process
TN Nursery is America's largest producer of pawpaw trees. We plant over 2 tons of pawpaw seeds, and in a perfect world, you may be able to find them online, but most people can not find larger sizes of the pawpaw trees. However, TN Nursery has them in abundance.
Good for Pollinators
The only host plant for the beautiful Zebra Swallowtail butterfly. It has one of the most fascinating pollination strategies among native fruit trees. Unlike other fruit trees, it attracts bees with sweet fragrances; pawpaw blooms emit a faint scent reminiscent of fermenting fruit or organic matter.
Rooted in Tennessee. Shipped Nationwide.
For over 65 years, TN Nursery has been growing high-quality, native plants and trees. With the largest Pawpaw inventory in North America, we are proud to supply homeowners, landscapers, conservationists, and reforestation projects across the country.
Frequently bought together
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Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a small native fruit tree of the eastern United States and the largest edible fruit native to North America. Its green fruit has soft, custard-like flesh with a flavor often compared to banana and mango, and its long, drooping leaves give a shady corner of the yard a tropical look.
- Hardiness zones: USDA 5-8
- Mature size: 15-30 feet tall
- Light: partial shade when young, full sun to partial shade once established
- Soil: moist, rich, well-drained, slightly acidic
- Heights shipped: 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 or 4-5 feet
- Packs: Buy 1 Get 1 Free (two trees), 25 trees or 100 trees
- Shipped as: bare-root, from our Tennessee nursery to gardens nationwide
Why Grow Pawpaw Trees?
Pawpaw gives you a true specialty fruit, a rare treat best enjoyed fresh from your own backyard. The tree is also the host plant of the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly, whose caterpillars feed on its leaves. Maroon flowers open in spring before the leaves appear, and the foliage turns butter yellow in fall. As a native understory tree, it asks little of you once it settles in.
What Soil Do Pawpaw Trees Need?
Pawpaw grows best in deep, fertile ground that stays evenly moist and drains well, like the creek bottoms and woodland edges where it grows wild. Loam is ideal. Working compost into the planting area gives it the rich, moisture-holding soil it loves.
How Does Pawpaw Grow and Where to Plant It?
Pawpaw spends its first year or two building a deep taproot, then grows with vigor. In the wild it forms lush little groves, so give it room to become a natural pawpaw patch. Choose a spot with morning sun and afternoon shade, or light shade under taller trees. Established trees in more sun bear more fruit.
A pawpaw needs pollen from a genetically different pawpaw to set fruit, so plant at least two near each other. Our trees are grown from seed, so each one is genetically distinct and any two of them can pollinate each other. Seed-grown pawpaws usually begin fruiting 4 to 8 years after planting, and the fruit ripens in late summer and early fall.
How to Plant Bare-Root Pawpaw Trees
Plant while the tree is dormant, from November to April, as soon as you can after it arrives. Keep the roots damp until they go in the ground, and soak them in water for an hour before planting. Dig a hole deep and wide enough to hold the roots without bending the taproot. Set the tree at the depth it grew in the nursery, backfill with the soil you removed, and water well to settle it.
How Do You Care for Pawpaw Trees?
Water once a week through the first growing season whenever rain falls short. Keep 2 to 3 inches of mulch over the root zone, pulled back from the trunk. In a sunny spot, shade young trees for their first year or two with shade cloth or a board on a stake. Pawpaws need little pruning beyond removing dead or crossing branches.
Why Buy Pawpaw Trees From TN Nursery?
Pawpaw is our #1 selling tree and the one we know best. We grow more than 200,000 pawpaw trees in Tennessee from over 2 tons of seed each year, and our family sources pawpaw seed from every major seed source in the country. Many other nurseries buy their pawpaws from us wholesale. Across more than 160 customer reviews, the comments we hear most are that the trees arrive healthy, with strong roots, and carefully packed.
Buy 1 Get 1 Free gives you a pollinating pair in a single order. Planting on a larger scale? Our pawpaw seedlings come in packs of 100, from 6 to 24 inches tall. Would you rather plant from a pot? Try our 1-gallon potted pawpaw trees, 2 to 3 feet tall.