Chestnut: Bareroot Combo Pack

Are you unsure of which varieties to choose?  No worries, we will choose for you!  A bundle of bareroot trees of our favourite genetics selected to pollinate each other. 

Chestnuts were once a crucial staple crop in many parts of North America, Europe, and Asia, and they are enjoying a resurgence. Nuts can be roasted, boiled, or dried and milled into a flour. Chestnut trees are low-maintenance, productive, and tolerant of drought and sandy/rocky soils. Spiky shells deter squirrels from getting to nuts before you do.

Planting: Chestnuts prefer well-drained, slightly acidic, sandy loam soil. They are intolerant of clay or wet soils. They are wind-pollinated so they require at least two to make nuts. Planting several in the same area helps to ensure adequate pollination. Requires watering for the first few years while they're getting established. Best planted when dormant (Nov-Mar) but can be planted later in spring.

Why seedlings? Growing seedlings from high-quality parents helps maintain diversity (each seed is a new variety) while drawing on some of the best genetics for chestnuts in our bioregion. In other words, you are breeding new, regionally-adapted chestnut varieties! Some trees may be poor producers or produce low quality nuts, so we recommend planting several of these trees closer together and selecting your final tree once they've produced their first nuts (3-5 years). Recommended final spacing is ~25' between the centre of each tree.