Anyone who has ever seen a chestnut blossom will surely be fascinated by this spectacle and will want to plant a tree in its garden. Chestnut is not only beautiful, but also useful. Its flowers and fruits have healing properties. If you love chestnut, how to grow it, we will tell you.
What is chestnut
Chestnut is a tree of the bamboo family with a lush crown and a height of up to 30 m. It has fruits in the form of nuts, blooms profusely in white flowers. In total, there are about 25 species of chestnut. The most common ones are:
common horse;
decorative seed;
meat red.
If you are thinking about how to grow chestnut, this article will be useful to you. Before planting this beautiful tree, decide where it will grow, because the chestnut grows very much and takes up a lot of space. He loves the sun or partial shade.
Then prepare the soil, it should be moist and loamy with the addition of lime. Do not forget about drainage, adding sand and gravel to the pit.
There are two ways to grow: seedling and walnut. We will explain how to grow chestnut by describing both methods.
We grow a seedling
This method is the simplest, but chestnut seedlings cost a lot of money. But for the sake of such a beautiful and useful tree it is not a pity to spend money.
Dig a hole about 50 cm wide and the same length and depth. Gently lower the root into the pit, but do not deepen much, because the soil has the property to settle. Sprinkle with earth, burying the root of the neck, and tamp a little. Pour plenty of warm water. It is possible to make supports to the trunk so that a plant that has not yet matured does not fall in a strong wind.
How to grow chestnut from walnut
People who use this method often fail because they don’t really know how to grow chestnut from its own fruits. This process is difficult and takes a lot of strength and patience. Nuts need to be sprouted. There are several ways to germinate chestnut seeds :
Place the chestnut fruits in a flat bowl, fill with water and refrigerate. After 2-5 months, sprouts should appear.
Another way of aging fruits is to leave them on the street for the whole winter. Just put the nuts in the ground with a small indentation. Top with dry foliage or sawdust. In spring, the nuts will sprout, and you only need to transplant the plant.
Another way is this: put the nuts in a pot and lower them into the cellar for the winter. In the spring, pull out and plant in the ground to a depth of 10 cm.
Of course, you should not expect a 100% result, not all nuts germinate and become magnificent trees. This is due to the fact that you can choose the wrong fruits. Before growing chestnuts, you need to select large nuts without rot. It is better to trust nature, and if there is such an opportunity, pick up fallen fruits under the chestnut tree. This should be done in the spring, when the nut bursts and a sprout emerges from it.
Chestnut Care
Now that you know how to grow chestnut, we will tell you about caring for it. In fact, the chestnut is unpretentious. It is enough to water the tree plentifully and feed it with fertilizers every 2-3 years. The decorative chestnut is recommended to be kept at home for the first couple of years.