|
| Mature Height: |
70 ft. |
| Mature Width: |
50 ft. |
| Sunlight: |
Full |
| Soil Conditions: |
Adaptable |
| Drought Tolerance: |
Moderate |
I remember my grandparents telling me about chestnuts. They’d collect the spiny little burrs each October, peel the skins away and roast the nuts over a fire just like in the Christmas song. Sadly, almost every tree in the country was wiped out at the turn of the last century by a foreign fungal disease.
Breeders have been working hard to bring the species back from the brink of extinction and our beautiful American chestnut is the result.
Be sure to plant this fast-growing classic where it will have lots of elbow room. A mature tree can reach 70 feet and spread 50 feet or more.
The fruit is formed on drooping, buttery yellow catkins that form pretty, feathery masses in late spring.
Plant several chestnuts near each other to pollinate for fruit. Trees usually start bearing the fuzzy fruit pods in 2-3 years when planted in full sun.
I use this sweetest of nuts roasted as a compliment to vegetables, in a classic Thanksgiving stuffing or as a snack all by themselves. But I get the most pleasure on a crisp fall day collecting chestnuts, and memories, with my grandchildren.
| 3-5 ft. |
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