Chinese Chestnuts are Hard to Beat

We may not have much luck growing the native American chestnut anymore, but the Chinese chestnut is a good alternative.

As the NC State extension writes:

Chinese chestnut is a medium size deciduous flowering tree that is a native of China and, in its natural habitat, often found in woods, forests, and mountain slopes from sea level to 9000 feet. This tree can reach a height and spread of about 40 feet, with a symmetrical and round crown. It branches close to the ground, which makes it a good landscape tree. The smell of the flower might be offensive to some people. The nut is edible, attracts wild life, but use caution when handling it because it is spiny. The tree is resistant to chestnut blight. Chinese chestnut will make a good shade tree in the landscape and has interesting fall color.

The genus name comes from the town of Castania in Thessaly where the trees reportedly grew in abundance. The specific epithet comes from the Latin word for soft, in reference to the pubescent twigs and leaf undersides.

Chinese chestnut prefers full sun to partial shade and moist well drained soil It will grow in clay, sandy soils, loam, and even tolerates nutritionally poor soils. It will do well in neutral and mildly acidic conditions and tolerates occasional drought, hot summers, and humidity. If you are growing this tree for its edible nuts, planting more than one tree will facilitate cross-pollination and produce a more abundant nut crop. However, falling chestnuts can pose a litter problem.

The first time we saw Chinese chestnuts was way back when we lived outside of Nashville. Pastor Phil Dillingham of Priest Lake Christian Fellowship had a couple of them growing in his backyard. They were beautiful little trees, loaded with nuts.

We tried roasting them but found them awful. We had no idea what we were doing, but we had heard the Christmas song and did our best.

Later, we boiled some and they were delicious.

So far, we’ve planted about 5 Chinese chestnuts and two Dunstans in the yard. We plan to plant a lot more as we get the opportunity. I’ve also got two Chinquapins that need to go in the ground, hopefully before they wake up.

Hunters and wildlife appreciators often plant chestnuts to feed animals as well. They fit nicely into the ecosystem anywhere oaks already grow. The spiny nut casings are hard on bare feet, though, so don’t plant them next to your walkways.