Will my soils allow for Chestnuts?

[IkemanTx]

As it gets closer to being able to start habitat work on the family 40, I am getting more and more in depth with my research. One thing I keep seeing is to avoid clay soils.

There are 2 soil types on the family farm according to the NRCS soil survey maps.

The lower lying area is classified as Frioton Silty Clay Loam

The higher ground (just a 20-30’ max elevation change) is categorized as Whitewright-Howe complex.

I was hoping to include multiple varieties of Chestnuts and Allegheny Chinkapins. Are these soils at all compatible with them? If they just WONT grow in black clay soils I would prefer to spend the money on things that will.

Some of the native trees we have on the place already are burr oaks, red oaks, hackberry, western red cedar, Osage orange, persimmon, post oak, winterberry, cottonwood (along the creek), and Mexican plum.


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[Neahawg]

If it's well drained and doesn't hold water you could give it a try. Though, if your unsure I would try direct seeding some as you can typically pick seeds up fairly cheap.

 

[yoderjac]

I can't speak to your soils in particular, but I have heavy clay soils and chestnuts do fine. I'm in the native range of American Chestnuts and I'm sure they were growing here before the oaks. They do like lower pH, but the clay does not bother them. The issues with clay is when they are container grown and planted with the medium (rootmaker trees) or bare root trees are planted with amendments. Amended soil in heavy clay usually has much better water infiltration than the clay. So, you can form a pond and drowned the roots during wet weather and because the amended medium will also dry out faster than clay, the rootball can dry out during dry periods. Bare root chestnuts should be planted without amendments.

For rootmaker trees, I auger a deep hole the same diameter as the rootball and back fill it was a little quarry stone and native clay mixed. I plant them with the top of the root ball about 1" above the soil and select a spot where ground water will not run in. I then mound up native clay to the top of the root ball to from a ramp that further keeps ground water from draining into the hole. The deep hole with amendments below the rootball causes any rain that directly falls into the hole to pool well below the rootball. The auger being very close in diameter to the rootball means that it doesn't take long for the lateral roots to enter the native clay.

In the spring when we get ample rain, the rootball is protected from drowning and by the time we get into our summer dry season, the lateral roots have grown into the clay and can get ample moisture from it. Landscaping material covered by quarry stone also help them retain moisture.

I don't know enough about soils to say if your soil is an issue, but clay is not a problem for chestnuts direct seeded into it as long as they are not in an area where water naturally pools.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[TreeDaddy]

Another consideration for harsh texas summers is planting orientation

North and east facing slopes offer some protection from hot,afternoon sun

bill

 

[IkemanTx]

Great information guys. The east side of the small “ridge” sounds like it will do just fine for chestnuts. The soil layer is fairly thin before breaking into the eroded Austin stone formation below, so I should be able to auger through and avoid the pond formation @yoderjac mentioned.
And I had not considered that side of the hill protecting them from late afternoon heat, but it makes perfect sense @TreeDaddy. There are several mature Burr Oaks that cast a good shadow there in the evenings.


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[H20fwler]

I'm in a heavy clay area and they grow for me. I've had about 50/50 success with Dunstan's, they look good for a year or two then seem to die overnight turning brown. The ones that have made it have thrived and this past year I collected a bunch of nuts from them.
The Chinese chestnuts do a lot better for me, I've only ever lost a couple of them. They aren't near as fussy to get started as the Dunstan's are. I have planted potted/bare root/direct seeded chestnut trees...all of the methods will work if they have good sunlight and aren't planted in low areas, they do not like wet feet. I screen and cage them just like my fruit trees, after a couple years they are pretty much zero maintenance.

 

[IkemanTx]

Well, I did a little work on the place today. The old well hadn’t been used in probably 20 years, and had cedars, greenbrier, grapevines, and black locust grown around it so thick you couldn’t even tell there was ever a well there.
After a few hours of cutting and trimming it finally came into view. I hope to build a new deck on the top, mortar the outside, and stick a solar powered pump in it.

Aside from a little debris from the top, the water was crystal clear.

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