Chestnuts in a forest setting.

[John B]

How well would you expect a hybrid chestnut (dunstan) do to in a forest setting? With the ash borer just a few counties away and oak wilt well on its way I was hoping to get ahead of the game and have a useful tree ready to take their place. Obviously they would do better in full sun but would you expect them to set up roots and slowly grow while waiting for the surrounding trees to die out?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, in a natural environment before the blight, chestnuts would grow from nuts in the shadow of large chestnut trees. Keep in mind that from the thousands of nuts a mature tree would produce only few would make it to maturity. We see the same thing with a few younger oaks in a mature oak forest.

One plan to consider is to advantage them with a TSI. Find a group of trees that you don't want or are willing to remove in 20 yard square area. Remove them and kill any stump sprouts. You certainly won't get full sun at the center, but you will get enough sun and with the competition for nutrients and water removed from the immediate area, you should advantage your chestnuts over random seedlings in full shade. Keep the competition down for the first few years. Over time as you find other mature trees failing in your woods, repeat this process.

Just one though....


Jack

 

[chickenlittle]

Until blight resistant American chestnuts are to released, the aren't many good options. But it depends on your climate and what they will be competing against in the forest.

Dunstan has primarily Chinese genetics and most will have the spreading Chinese form. However, some might be a taller American form. If you planted enough cheaply enough, some may get tall enough to get enough light to produce. The rest would languish in the understory.

I have planted some hybrids I got from a Chestnut researcher. Those nuts had a mix of American, Chinese, and European genetics. Might get tall enough, might survive blight, might be cold hardy for me. Everything else is planted as an orchard in a field.

For more southerly areas, European and Chinese Henryi would have more of a timber form but are less cold hardy. Henryi seem hard to find but I have not looked much. European would not be blight resistant.

Empire Chestnut sells hybrid nuts or seedlings that have enough European in them that they might have a timber form and may or may not be blight resistant. They list them as experimental. I'd suggest buying a couple pounds of nuts instead of seedlings.

If you can experiment cheaply, you might get some trees might survive against 60+ foot tall forest trees. But an orchard planting is the proven method for Dunstan or other Chinese pure/hybrids.

 

[yoderjac]

For what it is worth, I've grown a lot of Dunstans from nuts. I'd say at least 1/2 of them take more of the Chinese form with early branching. One technique might be to grow your own from Dunstan nuts and sell or cull those that take the Chinese form and plant the ones that take more of the American form. I have some trees that are over 9' tall that are just beginning to branch while I've had others begin branching while that were still in the 18s.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Gto One]

I planted some of the Dunstans from Wal Mart the first year they sold them. About 5 were planted about 20 foot into a forest edge. All were watered and looked after. Within three years only one is remaining, and it is a sprout that has come back from roots. I have a few planted on a northwest facing slope as well, those were bought bare root three years before I bought any of the WM Dunstans. They are doing well, but growth is considerably slower than the others with full sunlight. If you want to plant Dunstans, plant them where they will get as much sun as possible, if you plant them in the shade you are wasting your time and effort.

 

[nateb440]

I planted a bunch of Chinese chestnuts inside a forest edge once. They're all dead. This year I planted 50 in the same spot and cut about 50 large Elma and locusts to open things up. I've got high hopes this time around. The ones I planted in the fields are still alive.

 

[yoderjac]

Just for a rough comparison, about 4 years ago, I did plant some chestnuts in an area of thinned pines. The canopy was not completely closed but they get more shade than sun. None of these are over waist high but they are doing fine, just growing slowly. They are competing with the pines for resources. They are not that much larger than when planted.

On the other hand, I'm planting a bunch along a road. I planted one that was about 6' tall when planted in the fall after one growing season. After the second growing season it was around 9' tall. Here is a pic of this one after the second growing season:

One more point. This may not be a fair comparison to your situation. I'm planting rootmaker trees, not bare root trees. Bare root trees by nature are under a lot of stress when planted and rootmaker trees are not. So, the added stress of the competition may be too much for bare root trees. So, my limited success planting them in thinned pines may not translate to your situation.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Persimman]

The least amount of sunlight my chestnuts get is 4 hrs. They stay green and healthy, but not near the growth of those with more sun. I planted Chinese and Dunstans. I really like an app called SunSurveyor for picking the best spot in a small opening. It shows the sun path against the real background for any dates you pick. Way cool.

I am also interested in planting before the eab kill, to get a head start on the 'natural' regeneration. by fall '17 I hope to have identified major ash areas and conduct a fall tree planting blitz. If it's your own land, girdling an ash where you put your tree will certainly give it a head start. - not knowing how big your ash are or your potential to sell them. Kill a few now where you plant your chestnuts, and after standing for a couple years they'll be perfect dry firewood.