Chestnut trees

Has anyone had any luck planting chestnut trees? I would like to plant some of the America hybrids that are blight resistant. Have the deer been on the trees? Thanks

I planted 4 trees 3 years ago. One died, pappy run over one with the tractor and stunted it bad.

2 have chestnuts on them this year. probably 100 or more per tree. Last year they had 4 or 5 on each tree.

These are Dunstan Chestnuts. They are suppose to be blight resistant and so far so good

I planted 4, a year and a half ago. 2 died and replaced those this summer. One tree had one chestnut on it this year.

This has been a significant project for me both planting and researching. Wish I'd done more research before planting, it was an impulse buy after just reading the card on the tree at Rural King AND they were half price.

Those things get HUGE and it is fact, plant them 50 - 60 apart and from any other trees. Plant them in full sun. They will grow FAST, IF you put up a support pole on each side and tie them up like landscapers do in the city with tree transplants. AND protect them from animals eating them and the leaves. I encircled mine in chicken wire fence this year and it was AMAZING what an IMMEDIATE response I saw and before I never had a clue anything was eating at them. Japanese beetles will also attack them if you have those in your area. I also began this fall spraying them with deer off any where they stuck out of the cages.

Take these steps and you will be amazed at the growth. Mine are called Dunstan Chestnuts.

All that said, I happened to be exploring on the motorcycle looking at deer hunting possibilities and ran across a house with a sign in the driveway, "Free chestnuts / on the ground".

I thought, I'm going to see just what my trees will look like by the time I'm dead and pick up some of these to see how they taste. May be see just how much animals REALLY like them. These trees had to be 50 years old if they were a day and massive.

I picked up a 5 gallon bucket of chestnuts in no time with my NutWizard pick up tool.

"Those are not too bad. Kinda sweet" as I tasted a couple straight off the ground.

Google recipes, but we tried boiled and baked for a heads up taste test and baked is the way to go, no doubt about it. Over all, I'm not that impressed though. Only about 25% of mine made it past inspection before and after cooking to ever get tasted.

I'm not sure how well the wild life like them because my dog eats them ALL every time I throw any out. He eats them like Snickers bars or crack. He can't turn away from them.

I'm going to quit putting them out for fear he will get sick on them.

I have about 10 planted. I have 2 with a couple on them this year. I hope next year they have a lot we will see.

Thanks y'all I'm going to pick some up and plant them this fall.

I wonder if they will grow this far south?

Nicodemus said:

I wonder if they will grow this far south?

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Go to TyTy web site and pop in your zip code and pull up your zone number. They have the zones listed on each plant they sell.

Nicodemus said:

I wonder if they will grow this far south?

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the Dunstan nursery is in north Florida if I am not mistaken Nic.

I know their website said they didn't have much hurricane damage from Irma when it came through

I've never planted them but I have never seen deer come to anything better than when Chestnuts are dropping. I hunt a farm in Ohio that has about 15 trees that are absolutely loaded every year and I watch the deer walk through a food plot and past corn to feed on them. They are the tree to have IMO

I've never planted them but I have never seen deer come to anything better than when Chestnuts are dropping. I hunt a farm in Ohio that has about 15 trees that are absolutely loaded every year and I watch the deer walk through a food plot and past corn to feed on them. They are the tree to have IMO

Thanks for the info because I am planning on planting more.

Dunstan Chestnuts are not American Chestnuts. They are Chinese Chestnuts with a small amount of American Chestnut genetics. They are blight resistant, just as Chinese Chestnuts are. Whether you plant American, Chinese, European or Dustan Chestnuts, deer will love them. My guess is American would be preferred since they are smaller and have less tannin than Chinese. Whitetail deer evolved eating American Chestnuts not Chinese. Chinese/American Chestnuts hybrids are not rare they just don’t have a name attached to them like “Dunstan”. No one sells blight resistan American Chestnuts so you will not find them anywhere. You can donate to TACF and they will send you four nuts that are 15/16 American, 1/16 Chinese. Those should be all American in appearance but as blight resistant as a Chinese.