Walmart carrying DUSTIN CHESTNUT TREES!

[perchjerker]

If you own land where deer live or visit, I suggest you consider some of these. If you lease land you may want some too. It's doubtful many know this was the #1 food preferred by deer.

all videos must be embedded per site rules

List of Walmarts in Ga that will have them.

http://www.chestnuthilloutdoors.com/Shared/Price lists and documents/2018-Walmart-Store-List.2-3.pdf

Tree company

http://www.chestnuthilloutdoors.com/

 

[Possum]

The “Dunstan” chestnut tree is just a way over hyped Chinese chestnut hybrid variety with an unknown amount of American chestnut dna. The tree itself and the nuts closer resemble Chinese chestnuts so why pay the premium for a named tree when pure Chinese, pure American or any number of other hybrid varieties are available at a fraction of the cost?
I’m also suspicious of chestnut hill and walmart’s Claim that the trees being sold are true Dunstans. To be a true Dunstan, the tree would have to be grafted. If it is grafted, all the trees would be genetically identical and another variety would be needed for pollination and nut production. If the trees being sold are grown from seed (which I believe they are) they would not be true Dunstans and could contain any amount of Chinese or American traits. Just a bit of info for anyone thinking about planting chestnuts. I am curious to know the flowering time and nut drop time of dunstan trees if anyone knows. American Chestnuts flower in June and drop in October. Chinese chestnuts flower in May and drop in September.

 

[bevills1]

I am curious to know the flowering time and nut drop time of dunstan trees if anyone knows. American Chestnuts flower in June and drop in October. Chinese chestnuts flower in May and drop in September.

If I recall correctly, that info is in one of the video links in the op's post.

 

[Possum]

The flowering/drop time information was not in the videos. Chestnut hill falsely continues to claim these are American Chestnuts. They are not. Don’t be fooled folks. Nothing wrong with buying and planting them, just don’t be tricked into thinking you are planting anything more than a common chestnut hybrid made famous by realtree.

 

[glynr329]

I haven't seen at any Walmart stores so far I was hoping to get a few more this year. I have planted 10 or 15 so far. Had 2 trees with a few on them last year hope this year will have more. Time will tell

 

[sghoghunter]

I saw four in there earlier when I went for $29.95 each if I remember right

 

[lampern]

IIRC last year they eventually went on sale for much lower than the original price.

WalMart has been selling these trees for a few years now

 

[nmurph]

DON'T INTRODUCE NON-NATIVE SPECIES. If it's not native to your party of the state, keep it that way.

 

[GT-40 GUY]

It looks to me that they only sell non-grafted trees.

gt40

 

[dtala]

well, since there ain't no NATIVE chestnuts and I like chestnut trees and the abundance of nuts they produce I have planted Chestnut Hill trees for several years. All have survived, grown, and produced nuts within two years. I will continue to plant them this year and in the future. Thank you.

 

[Possum]

Dtala, do all your Dunstans flower and drop at same time or do the drop times vary from tree to tree? When is the average flowering and drop time of your trees. I’m curious as to whether Dunstans would be able to naturally cross pollinate with native Americans or only other Chinese chestnuts?

 

[ProAngler]

The “Dunstan” chestnut tree is just a way over hyped Chinese chestnut hybrid variety with an unknown amount of American chestnut dna. The tree itself and the nuts closer resemble Chinese chestnuts so why pay the premium for a named tree when pure Chinese, pure American or any number of other hybrid varieties are available at a fraction of the cost?
I’m also suspicious of chestnut hill and walmart’s Claim that the trees being sold are true Dunstans. To be a true Dunstan, the tree would have to be grafted. If it is grafted, all the trees would be genetically identical and another variety would be needed for pollination and nut production. If the trees being sold are grown from seed (which I believe they are) they would not be true Dunstans and could contain any amount of Chinese or American traits. Just a bit of info for anyone thinking about planting chestnuts. I am curious to know the flowering time and nut drop time of dunstan trees if anyone knows. American Chestnuts flower in June and drop in October. Chinese chestnuts flower in May and drop in September.

Possum nailed it. I have been doing a lot of research on Chestnuts lately and Dunstan's are definitely not one of the best varieties to go with. Know body who grows any fruit or nut trees to produce fruit and nuts would plant seedlings. No telling what you are getting with seeds. If you just want to through a few in the ground and see how they do for the fun of it, just buy some chestnut seeds for planting and save yourself a boatload. Not saying there is anything wrong with them, they are just not superior to other hybrid's as advertised.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Here's my take. You can take it or leave it. I am a horticulturist by trade, specializing in native plants. I am a certified professional plantsman. I have literally written a couple of books on native plants.

I have been fascinated with American chestnuts and their story for half a century. I have original American chestnut sprouts still living in my area. I have several types of the early-stage hybrids growing on my home property, that my grandpa got from an early breeding program. I have grown Pure American chestnuts, several of the hybrids, including Dunstans, and regular Chinese and European chestnuts. I have been involved with a state program planting the latest generation trees from the American Chestnut Foundation.

Does this make me an expert? No. But I think I know enough about it to have an semi-educated opinion.

My opinion: Is the Dunstan overhyped? Probably. Is it just another Chinese chestnut? Definitely not. Is it worth planting? Definitely. Is it better than most others you can get? Yes. Are there probably some fakes out there labeled as Dunstans that really aren't? Probably.

The Dunstan has a good bit of American genes in it. I doubt seriously if it is 2/3 American and 1/3 Chinese like the seller claims, but it definitely has American genes in it. If you key one out, it has both Chinese and American characteristics. The growth habit is more Chinese than American. But, it also tends to grow bigger and more upright than the typical Chinese tree. It is quite a bit more hardy and vigorous than the Chinese chestnut in my area at least, and it produces more and bigger nuts than either of its parents, and starts producing at a very young age compared to both its parents. It also seems to be more long-lived than the Chinese chestnut.

I have never seen one die from blight. I have access to some that have been growing nearly thirty years, with no sign of blight. Every pure American or American hybrid from the ACF that I have planted has been infected with blight within five years, usually within two or three.

They are seedlings instead of grafted trees, so they have more genetic variation; which is both a good and bad thing. Some are more American-ish, some are more Chinese-ish, but you can always tell the difference from the straight parent species.

Pure American trees mostly bloom in late May here, except at the higher elevations, where they bloom a couple-few weeks later. They drop in October. The Dunstans here bloom in early-mid May, and drop in late September-early October, about the same time as white oak acorns. I planted some on my property on the mid SC-GA line, but they haven't fruited yet. I'm interested to see what the bloom/fruiting times are down there compared to here.

Are they perfect? Nope. Would I love to see pure American chestnuts again that will not succumb to the blight? God, yes. But at the moment, those don't exist. When I went to plant some chestnuts on my property for deer last year, I planted Dunstans. Because, though probably overhyped and somewhat exaggerated as to parentage and performance, they are still about the best that is available at the moment.

 

[Crakajak]

Before I planted Dunstan chestnuts several years ago I did some research and realized that the good outweighs the bad.
I understand what Possum is saying,but I don't want to spend the money for American or chinese ,nurture them for several years just to have them die of blight.
My wildlife doesn't know the difference between any of them.

 

[lampern]

NCHillbilly,

If you don't mind me asking what is your take on these hybrid chestnuts?

https://www.musserforests.com/prod.asp?p=AMCHEX


Are some hybrids more blight resistant than others? Thanks

 

[lampern]

Before I planted Dunstan chestnuts several years ago I did some research and realized that the good outweighs the bad.
I understand what Possum is saying,but I don't want to spend the money for American or chinese ,nurture them for several years just to have them die of blight.
My wildlife doesn't know the difference between any of them.

Pure chinese are blight resistant

 

[Crakajak]

Pure chinese are blight resistant

Do you have a good source for them?

 

[elfiii]

When I went to plant some chestnuts on my property for deer last year, I planted Dunstans. Because, though probably overhyped and somewhat exaggerated as to parentage and performance, they are still about the best that is available at the moment.

Will the deer eat them?

 

[Possum]

NCH, will a Dunstan chestnut naturally cross pollinate an American or Chinese? That is a question I have yet to have answered and I’m just curious. Around here Americans and Chinese chestnuts will not cross pollinate unless pollen is collected, stored and hand pollinated. For kicks and giggles, I’d plant one just to see how it does but I wouldn’t want it to pollinate (contaminate) my American Chestnuts

 

[Possum]

Do you have a good source for them?

Anyone that wants pure Chinese chestnuts for growing can have as many as they want. I collect a few thousand every September, keep a couple dozen and dump the rest out for deer feed.

Anyone that wants pure American seedlings, I’ll give you two or three next fall. I collected about 70 last year.

Anyone that wants a highly blight resistant 15/16th American Chestnut can acquire them from TACF with a $300 donation.

I have blight resistant Americans but cannot distribute them. Sorry!