Chestnut trees

[destinduck]

Just got me 2 chestnut trees at Tallahassee Nursery. One is a Chinese and the other is a Dunstan. These seem to be the most popular. I am going to plant them within 10 feet of each other cause Im running outta room and I want close pollination. This has worked well for me with other fruit and nut trees here, Anyone already doing either or both of these? mine are about six foot.The Dunstan appears to be a graft. Hope they do well for me

 

[Nyboy]

Good luck with the trees. Love roasted chestnuts my mom made them every Thanksgiving

 

[ducks4you]

Is there any way to plant them a little bit further away from each other? Otherwise, enjoy!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Chestnut trees can be kind of tricky. There are both edible and inedible types. I looked up the Dunstan, they are the edible type. I have no idea if the Chinese you got are edible or inedible. The seed coverings have some extremely sharp spikes. Use leather gloves to handle them. Those things are dangerous.

They can also grow into huge majestic trees (40 to 60 feet high maybe) or more of a tall shrub. If the Dunstan is grown for seed I'm pretty sure they are the tall majestic type, not sure how a graft might affect their growth habit. Again, no idea on the Chinese. Hopefully the people at the nursery can help you with some of this.

Dad planted an ornamental Chestnut. The nuts were inedible and it made a "tall shrub" maybe 20 feet high. It was an attractive tree but those seed coverings were dangerous.

I understand you are running out of room. I'm not sure of the growth habit of that Chinese but at ten feet separation they will fight each other for sunlight. The canopies will probably grow into each other and the trees might become sort of tall and narrow. If one grows a lot faster than the other it might sort of shade the other out. If you walk through an old growth forest you will seldom see trees as close as ten feet apart. It is what it is, try it and see what happens. It will be years before you know.

From what I read Chestnuts are not self-pollinating. You might chat with the nursery about whether or not those tow will pollinate each other.

 

[destinduck]

Thanks Nyboy. We love eating them too.Thats why I wanted to grow some. ducks4you I dont mind that they compete for space. Luckily my whole yard is mainly edible plants so got lots to eat I also will keep them pruned back alot because Ill be happy for just enough to eat and not so much on a buttload lol! Ridgerunner these are most definitely the edible types and work well together for pollination. I always try and read up on my plants the best I can before I buy em.Although it is hard to find out how many years before I actually get nuts. ...from the trees that is! . guessing about 6 years but hope sooner,Again Thanks all yall for the input.

 

[Zeedman]

Chestnut trees can be kind of tricky. There are both edible and inedible types. I looked up the Dunstan, they are the edible type. I have no idea if the Chinese you got are edible or inedible. The seed coverings have some extremely sharp spikes. Use leather gloves to handle them. Those things are dangerous.

Interesting; I had to look that up. It seems I've never seen a real chestnut tree. I grew up with a lot of Ohio buckeye trees in the neighborhood, which I thought were "chestnuts". Always wondered if the buckeyes were edible (apparently they are not). A pity, the trees sure are productive, the squirrels can't even keep up with them once the nuts begin falling.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Dad was a teenager during the depression and saw the chestnut blight wipe out the chestnut trees in Appalachia. He was still torn up about that in his old age. Chestnuts made up a significant portion of the Appalachian forests. The nuts provided food for people as well as animals, wild and domestic. You could fatten hogs for butchering on Chestnuts instead of having to grow a lot of corn for that. The wood was rot resistant, it was great for lumber and fence posts. A lot of the split rail fences I saw still in use as a teenager were made from Chestnut. In the 50's and 60's I could still see a lot of chestnut trees that had fallen down in the woodlands and had not yet rotted.

The chestnut was a miracle tree. For people trying to live off the land during the depression in Appalachia the chestnut blight was a pretty severe blow. It made life harder.

Luckily someone noticed one chestnut tree did not die, it had a natural immunity to the blight. They took action. That's the basis for the Dunstan Chestnut. I don't expect it to ever become a significant portion of the Appalachian forests again but if Dad had known about it I'm sure he would have found a way to plant a few. After Destinduck's post so I've learned about them I'd plant a few here if I were staying. But where I'm going the only thing I might plant is a Satsuma or fig, and it is doubtful I'll have room for that.