Sweet Spanish Chestnut, Large Trees

Sweet Chestnut Trees

Castanea sativa, is large, with a stout trunk and strong, fairly short main branches that create a shaggy canopy starting quite close to the ground. Sweet chestnuts, which can reach 30 metres in the right position, will grow on almost any well-drained soil apart from chalk. The nuts are edible - and delicious.

Browse our other varieties of Chestnut trees.

This rugged, deciduous tree has lush, glossy, lance-head shaped leaves with serrated edges that turn bronze-gold in autumn. It produces fairly insignificant pale yellow catkins in June/July which are pollinated by bees and ripen into eating chestnuts in early winter. It is an excellent parkland or woodland specimen. It is a very long-lived tree, and old specimens can be exceptionally beautiful, with thick, spreading branches and intricately ridge bark which seems to spiral around the trunk.

Can I Use Sweet Chestnut in a Hedge?

Yes, but it is a so-so choice for hedging, which is the main reason we don't sell it in smaller sizes. It just doesn't respond well enough to regular trimming to get our vote.
However, it is a fine windbreak tree and coppices beautifully, so it can play an important role in a mixed shelter belt with other trees and hedges.

Did You Know?

Spanish chestnuts were hugely important to the Roman Empire, which spread the species across the Old World and introduced it to Britain some 2,000 years ago. Sweet chestnut porridge was a staple diet for Roman soldiers on campaign; it has all the belly filling stodginess of a grain, combined with the high protein and oil of a nut.

In Sicily, there is an ancient sweet chestnut thought to be over 2,000 years old, the Castagnu de Centu Cavaddi, The Chestnut of One Hundred Horses, sheltered a Spanish queen and her entire company of 100 knights in a storm.
Chestnut wood is strong and almost rot-proof, ideal for outdoor uses such as fencing.

Castanea vesca and Castanea vulgaris are former names.