The Chinese chestnut is a fast-growing tree that eventually becomes 30 to 50 feet tall with an equal spread. It not only produces great quantities of delicious nuts but also has handsome glossy foliage that provides dense shade. Its slender, shiny leaves are 4 to 7 inches long and have toothed edges. They are reddish when they first unfold and turn shades of yellow and bronze in the fall. Young leaves are instantly identifiable by the dense, soft hairs on their surface. In early summer the trees bear masses of tiny fragrant white flowers in 8- to 10-inch upright clusters set among the leaves.
The flowers are followed by 2- to 3- inch prickly seed husks that open in the fall, each releasing two or three shiny brown 1-inch nuts. Recommended varieties are Abundance, rich brown nuts; Crane, dark red, long-lasting nuts; Kuling, dark brown nuts; Meiling, tan nuts; and Nanking, dark tan nuts. All produce large nuts and, though not widely available, are worth seeking out.
Pecans do best in soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. For nuts within six years, buy trees 4 to 5 feet tall; they should have one-year-old nut-bearing tops grafted onto branched rootstock that is several years old. Plant them in late fall or winter in Zones 6-10 and in early spring in Zone 5, cutting the trees back halfway immediately after planting.
Chinese chestnuts grow in Zones 4-8 and do best in gravelly soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. For nuts within two years, buy trees 4 to 5 feet tall. Trees should be set out in the spring. Cut off all but three or four of the strongest, best-placed branches to form the skeleton of the tree; they should be spaced 6 to 12 inches apart, spread in different directions and form angles greater than 45 degrees with the trunk. Prune these branches to a length of 6 to 8 inches. In the subsequent two or three years, remove any other branches that compete with these main ones; thereafter, pruning is usually unnecessary. Chinese chestnuts do best if weeds and grass are kept away from the trunks for the first three or four years.
Early in the spring of the second year scatter 1 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer over the area covered by the branches. Each year increase the amount of fertilizer by 1 pound; large trees should receive 5 to 6 pounds per inch of trunk diameter annually.
To prevent blue jays from eating the nuts before they are ripe, drape the trees with plastic netting. Once the ripe nuts have fallen to the ground, gather them up every day or two so that they will not become moldy or be harvested by squirrels. Test to see whether they are sound and full of kernel by putting them in a pail of water. Save only those that sink to the bottom; after drying them, store in a cool place. If shelled and then stored in airtight containers in a freezer, hazelnuts will keep for nearly a year. Hazelnuts are propagated by hilling soil around suckers in the summer months. They will develop roots and be ready for digging up and planting elsewhere in spring.
Viewed 264 times by 82 viewers
