Note that there are many different ways to start and grow chestnuts. The differences in methods depend on several factors including pest pressure (deer, rodents, etc), the type of site on which you are planting (forested vs. old field), and what you are growing the trees for (breeding vs. nut production). The following sites will give you some beginning information on how to start, grow and maintain a chestnut orchard; however, for specific questions, we recommend that you ask the experts, most of whom can be found on our listservs.
Mailing lists allow to share information with others through e-mail. When a member of a mailing list posts a message to the list, every member of the list receives that message to their e-mail address.
PDF document, 1.7 MB
This document outlines the best management practices currently know regarding reintroduction of American chestnut. These recommendations are not optimized for specific locations but, instead, offer the most suitable methods for most locations and situations. Optimized methodologies for a specific location and re-introduction scenario require more in-depth analysis of soil characteristics, land-use history, surrounding invasive species pressure, local herbivore pressure, and site manager resources available for project installation and long-term maintenance.
PDF document, 913.5 KB
This document was derived from a PowerPoint presentation at the TACF 2005 Annual Meeting in Lexington, KY. Mainly showing brief notes on several planting topics, the document is meant as a brief overview of the types of decisions a grower should take into account while deciding how to plant and subsequently culture a planting of American or advanced hybrid chestnut trees.
Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) explains how to gather seed in the fall and plant seed in the spring.
PDF document, 2.3 MB
This document comes from the Center for Agroforestry at the University of Missouri. There's really not much difference between growing various species of chestnut trees. The main difference comes from the goal of the grower. Typically, Chinese chestnut trees are grown for commercial nut production, an end goal that often requires specific cultural practices that may differ slightly from other end goals. Still, several best management methods may be gleaned from any document such as this, where there is certainly more than one way to do anything. Note, too, a good section on good pruning methodology.
PDF document, 1011.2 KB
A collection of resources for standardizing measurements of trees.
Other good documents on how to properly plant trees.
