Has anyone tried planting the blight resistant chestnut trees, specifically the Dunstan chestnut, as a food source and/or habitat improvement? About a century ago, chestnut trees comprised approximately 25% of the total population of trees in its range, and were a significant -if not the main- food source for deer. I am interested in establishing a small stand of these trees on my property in upstate N.Y., and was hoping to hear of anyone's experiences. I appreciate any and all help.

There are different chestnut trees that are blight resistant but not true American Chestnuts. Guys I know have them for 20 yrs. but sooner or later they end up dying. Planted some on our property near Alleghany SP. Went down this weekend and this is the first year our AC Trees are producing. The hope seems to be that if enough are planted, maybe one will come out resistant to the blight.

There is an American Chestnut at Richmond, KY that looks to be about 30+ yrs old and is producing mast right now. It is the only one around it as far as I can tell so it is proably protected from the blight by its seclusion. You can obtain Chestnut saplings form the American Chestnut Foundation that they are grafting with hopes of creating blight-resistent strains and need help planting in various areas and monitoring. I am going to be gettin a couple myself this coming year after some soil prep work on my land. I sure wish we could get them back out there but it is going to take generations before we ever see them like they were. The wood of them are very resistent to decay and termites so they were the log of choice for the early settlers in the east to build with. And, their huge trunks are still found in the Smokies from the last of the giants that fell in the early 1900s. Their roots however still live and sapling pop up around the trunks from time to time, last a few short years and die from the blight before producing mast. I am keeping an eye on a sapling/young tree I found while hunting in Monroe Co., TN years ago for its first mast. It is a good 10-15' tall now and has a trunk that is a good 3" diameter so I am hoping it will one day drop mast that I can collect to plant. But I do not know whether they have to be cross-pollenated to yeild seeds that can germinate.

Shiloh, if the tree's producing nuts it's already been cross-pollinated.

Here's a link that may help: http://www.gardeningblog.net/how-to...chestnuts/

pgiangaspro: welcome to the forum, where in upstate NY?

Hi Steve, my camp is up in Lewis County, Town of Diana. I live right across the river from Poughkeepsie, in Highland. Small world! As for the chestnut trees, the dunstan tree is supposed to be a cross between the American chestnut and the chinese trees. With a mast crop produced at 5 years of age they sound promising. Google Chestnut Hills Nursery for info. I'm going to be in the area of the nursery with my pickup in late October and intend to bring a few back with me. I'd like to plant a couple here in Ulster county, and a few at my camp too.

Gerry and Shiloh: thanks for the responses - I am grateful for the help. I'll post any results with the trees!

Wow, yeah small world indeed (for others, we live probably within 10 miles of one another).

And when you say upstate, you MEAN upstate! I'm not sure if the chestnuts will fair too well that far up but ya never know. We've got a place in Stratford.

If you're interested in growing chestnut trees, check out the Chestnut Gall Wasp. It's a invasive species that affects all chestnut trees. It was first seen in Georgia and is moving north.

I have never tried them but asian chestnuts are blight resistant

I just planted 4 dunstans, 10 chinese, and 10 "american" chestnuts on my property in northern lower peninsula of mi. The Americans were provided by the county extension for a good price and are undoubtedly a cross but like the elm there have been documented cases of resistant american stock trees that are being crossed against to try to maintain as much of the american chestnut genome as possible. It is also my understanding that like the DED, chestnut blight tends too hit more mature trees so it may take a few years to assess the true resistance and it will vary by tree to some extent. That being said the fact that seedlings are available is a very good indicator. The trees themselves did well through the drought this summer but I planted them for neglect and also babied them a bit due to the drought. The dunstans did the best and I am anxious to see how they all come out of dormancy this spring. I plan to plant more next year.

I planted 5 chinese chestnut trees about 10 - 12 yers ago. It took about 5 years or so till they started to produce. Two years ago 4 of the trees had a good crop and the deer frequented my back yard all fall. The squirrels liked them too. This summer the one that did not produce the previous year had a bumper crop while the others only had a couple. I have eaten them and they are good but then again have never eaten the american chestnut. Now that I have some trees that are producing I plan to do some planting at our hunting lease. I also have been told that the chinese variety will never replace what once was as they do not grow to the height of the american but if they do grow and produce chestnuts my goal will have been achieved.