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CHESTNUTS
(Castanea mollissima-Chinese, C. sativa-European and C. dentata-American) Chestnuts are majestic trees which live
hundreds of years and each produces hundreds of pounds of nuts each year. Raintree is offering outstanding hardy
grafted varieties.
USEFUL FACTS
POLLINATION: Two varieties, two seedlings or one of each must be planted to insure pollination. Different chestnut
species will readily cross with one another. If you lack room you can plant two in the same hole and have a multi-trunk
tree.
HARDINESS: To -25Ú F.
FULL SUN: for nut production.
PLANT SPACING: 40 ft. or more for maximum long term nut production. Interplanting at 20 foot spacing will greatly
increase nut production over the first 20 years. Interplants will eventually need to be removed.
HARVEST TIME: October-November.
LIFE EXPECTANCY: A tree on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily had a branch spread over 200 feet wide and was in excess
of 2500 years old.
BEARING AGE: Grafted trees will generally commence bearing in 2 to 3 years, seedlings in 5 to 7 years.
HOW TO GROW
SOIL REQUIREMENTS: Chestnuts will grow in most soils, but they don’t like wet feet. Chestnut trees will tolerate
acid soils, and are fairly drought resistant once established.
CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS: While not as demanding as most nut trees, they benefit from a fertilization in the spring.
PESTS AND DISEASES: Borers can be a problem for grafted trees. The Northwest has escaped chestnut blight due to
isolation. Also, our typical weather patterns are not as conducive to the spread of fungal spores as is the East
Coast.
HOW TO USE
IN THE LANDSCAPE: A beautiful spreading tree for the landscape. Chinese chestnuts compare in size to a very large
apple tree, whereas European and American chestnuts eventually get quite massive. Chestnuts have glossy,
dark green serrated leaves and long, creamy yellow catkins that appear early in the summer. Also a great dual purpose
food and timber tree. Chestnut wood is extremely durable and rot resistant and possesses this quality as a young
tree, unlike cedar. Chestnut resprouts quite vigorously after cutting, suiting it quite well to coppice management
for rot resistant pole production. Coppicing means to cut down an established tree thus allowing the suckers to
regrow. The sucker sprouts will regrow again and again allowing for a continuous harvest of both nuts and wood.
IN THE KITCHEN: Chestnuts contain approximately 5% oil and 7% protein, along with a rich supply of carbohydrates,
giving them a food value roughly equivalent to potatoes. In some parts of the world chestnuts are dried and ground
into a flour for use in baking. They are among the sweetest of nuts and are a wonderful snack all by themselves
when roasted. Chestnuts compliment vegetables, and are famous in turkey stuffing.
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