Sometimes in botany it happens that completely different plants are hidden behind one name. The same thing happened with chestnut. Let's try to figure out which plant is a real chestnut and how the chestnut root system differs from the roots of other trees.
Horse chestnut and edible chestnut
The horse chestnut genus, which is most often used in urban landscaping, belongs to the Sapindaceae family and has nothing to do with “real” chestnuts. It received its name due to the similarity of the fruits with the fruits of plants from the Chestnut genus, the Beech family. Horse chestnut fruits are not eaten. This tree has beautiful palmate-compound leaves of 5-7 leaflets.
It is these plants that produce fragrant candles of inflorescences in May and are mentioned in the song about the Odessa sailor Kostya. No matter how decorative the horse chestnut may look, it has nothing to do with real chestnuts with edible fruits from the Chestnut genus.
Almost all types of trees and shrubs from the Chestnut genus have edible fruits. These plants are distinguished by long, up to 28 cm, lanceolate leaves with jagged edges.
On the root shoots, the length of the leaves can reach 0.6-0.7 m with a width of 10 cm. The flowers are collected in spike-shaped inflorescences. Both male and female flowers are located on the same stem. The fruit is a nut. One shell - plus can contain 1-3, less often up to 7 nuts.
At the end of ripening, usually at the end of September - beginning of October, the plush opens and the fruits and nuts spill out of it. The fruits of the true chestnut are used as a valuable food product. There is an opinion that people began to eat chestnuts long before the grain. Before you decide to plant and grow a chestnut tree on your site, you need to know about the special structure of its roots.
Chestnut root system
The first feature of the root system of an adult chestnut tree is that it is difficult to determine the size of the root system and understand where it ends from the size of the crown of these trees. This is important for planting other plants next to the chestnut. It turns out that the projection of the crown is very often several times smaller than the projection of the root system.
If the crown projection area is about 3 square meters, then the root projection area exceeds 20 square meters. Thus, not only under the crown of the tree, but also four to five meters from its borders, it is unlikely that anything will grow well, because powerful roots will pull all the useful substances from the soil. Therefore, most types of chestnuts can be recommended for spacious medium and large areas.
The root system of an adult chestnut consists of:
- tap root
- roots of the first and second order
- horizontal roots
- vertical branches from horizontal roots
The taproot goes three or more meters deep. OH has lateral branching of the first and second order. A well-growing tree has twice as many second-order roots as first-order roots. Some of the horizontal roots are located superficially and extend parallel to the surface.
The other part goes into the soil at an angle, in an oblique-vertical direction. In mature chestnuts, these roots are so well developed that they make the main taproot almost invisible. Thus, the chestnut root system can be described as wide-spread and deep.
This root system makes this tree wind-resistant. In addition, it is not afraid of drought, since the root system develops space well and provides the plant with moisture. Thanks to the structure of the root system, chestnuts protect the soil from being blown out and washed away.
If the choice is made in favor of chestnut, then you should know that while an adult tree has very strong roots, those of young plants are quite fragile. In the first year after germination, the seedling forms a long tap root, up to 40 cm. The length of the root at a young age is 2-4 times greater than the height of the ground shoot.
When choosing a chestnut seedling, you need to give preference to a specimen in a container, since it is very easy to damage the tap root when planting. Chestnuts are easy to grow from seeds. For chestnut, you need a spacious planting hole up to 0.8 cm deep and 0.6 m wide. Immediately after planting, the plant must be well watered. In the future, the plant needs to be provided with regular watering in the year of planting.
Some species of the genus Chestnut
When choosing plants from the Chestnut genus, you need to take into account their winter hardiness. Not only temperature indicators are important here, but also the depth of soil freezing, thaw, and humidity. Edible chestnuts include:
- crenate or Japanese, withstands frosts down to - 20 - 25 degrees, bears fruit for 4 years, has many large-fruited varieties
- sowing or edible - can grow only in mild warm climates, begins to bear fruit in the 15th year
- American serrated - one of the most frost-resistant species, can be recommended for cultivation in regions where winter temperatures drop to 27 degrees below zero; it begins to bear fruit from 18 to 20 years of age
- low-growing - cold-resistant and drought-resistant species, can grow as a shrub 2-3 meters high
In addition to the above species, there are many hybrids and varieties that are quite successfully cultivated in regions with temperate climates. Chestnuts are real long-livers, they live from 300 to 1000 years. By planting it in the garden, you can hope that the fifth or sixth generation of descendants will see the fruits of your labor.
Chestnut not only pleases with its beauty, but also helps maintain our health. Researchers from the Stockholm Biochemical Institute claim that one tree chestnut can clean 20 thousand cubic meters of air from automobile exhaust gases without losing its decorative effect.
That's why horse chestnut They are increasingly being planted on the streets and squares of cities, in gardens and parks.
Decorative forms have been obtained for this purpose. chestnut- spherical, columnar, pyramidal, weeping, with yellow, white-variegated, pink, red and double flowers, variegated and golden leaves.
Life form:
deciduous tree
Crown:
Spherical, dense.
Growth rate:
Fast. The annual growth is 50 cm in height and 50 cm in width.
Height 20 m, crown diameter 20 m.
Durability:
300 years
Flowers:
Funnel-shaped up to 2 cm, white, with red specks, in large inflorescences 20-30 cm long.
Leaves:
Composite, consisting of 5-7 oblong leaves, 10-20 cm, green in spring and summer, yellow in autumn.
Decorativeness:
The common horse chestnut is very beautiful during spring flowering.
Usage:
Alleys, single plantings, decorative groups.
Attitude
to the light: photophilous
to moisture: medium-demanding
to soil: not picky
to temperature: frost-resistant
Homeland:
Europe, Crimea.
A mighty tree up to 30 m tall with a massive trunk and a heavy, dense, wide-rounded crown, remarkable large inflorescences and very decorative fruits. It deservedly enjoys the reputation of one of the most beautiful park trees, decorative throughout the year: in winter - with a beautiful pattern of powerful branches; in the spring - early blooming, large, sticky, greenish-pink buds, from which on one of the warm days original, wrinkled, complex, long-petioled leaves appear, giving a dense shadow when fully developed.
The leaves are compound, palmate, with 5-7 oblong, obovate leaflets up to 25 cm long. In early May, after the leaves bloom, large (up to 30 cm), pyramidal panicles of large, white, pink-speckled flowers appear. Like candles on a Christmas tree, the inflorescences give the tree a unique appearance during this period. Flowering lasts 15-25 days. Chestnut fruits are also very decorative - spherical, green, with numerous thorns, fleshy capsules up to 6 cm in diameter, cracking with three leaves and containing 1-3 shiny, dark brown seeds.
Frost-resistant, quite demanding on soil fertility, prefers loam containing lime. Shade-tolerant, but reaches best development in open sunny places. It is demanding on soil and air moisture, tolerates urban conditions relatively well, and has a high ability to accumulate sulfur compounds and lead.
Resistant to pests and diseases. Retains decorative properties for a long time. Very colorful in autumn when the foliage turns a beautiful bright yellow. A good honey plant. Durable.
A first-class tree for planting on streets, boulevards, and park alleys. It is also good for monumental groups and entire groves in large parks and forest parks. Very beautiful in a single planting, where the crown has the opportunity to fully develop. Recommended for landscaping in Moscow for alley, group and single plantings.
It has a number of decorative forms: Bauman (f. Baumanii)- with double white flowers and long flowering, does not produce fruit; Schirnhofera (f. Schimhoferi) - with double yellowish-red flowers; yellow-variegated (f. luteo-variegata) - with yellow-variegated leaves; white-variegated (f. albo-variegata) - with white-variegated leaves; Memminger (f. Memmingeri) - small white spots on the leaves; split-leaved (f. laciniata) - with narrow, deeply unevenly cut leaves; umbrella spherical (f. umbraculifera) - with a compact, rounded crown; pyramidal (f. pyramidalis) - with a narrow pyramidal crown; undersized (f. pumila) - dwarf; notched (f. incisa) - with short and wide, deeply cut leaves; weeping (f. pendula).
Common horse chestnut "Baumannii". The shape of the tree is convex or broadly ovoid, 15-20 m tall, 8-12 m wide, compact in appearance, not as large as the original species. The flowers are large spikes, white, with a red pattern, blooming (from the 10th year) from early to mid-May. Fruits are almost completely absent. The leaves are beautiful, large, up to 25 cm, oblong-elliptic or lanceolate, pitted-palmate, often with crescent-shaped teeth; in autumn - bright yellow. Root system: shallow and branched, sensitive to soil compaction and interference; raises road surfaces. Prefers warm locations, is frost-resistant, and sensitive to dry air. Soils are moist to moist, slightly acidic to alkaline; slightly heavy soils; does not grow on sandy soils; sensitive to salinity. Frost resistance: zone 4.
Growing conditions
Landing Features:
The distance between plants in groups and alleys is at least 5-6 m.
The root collar should be at ground level after the soil settles.
Soil mixture:
Turf soil, humus, sand - 2:1:1.
Add 100-200 g of slaked lime to the planting hole.
A drainage layer of 10-20 cm of crushed stone is required.
Optimal acidity - pH 6-7.5
Feeding:
In early spring, add at the rate of dilution in 10 liters of water: mullein - 1 kg, urea - 15 g, ammonium nitrate - 25 g. In early autumn, 15-20 g of nitroammophoska.
Watering:
Mandatory upon landing and in the next 3-4 days.
It tolerates short-term drought relatively well, however, during dry periods of spring and summer, watering is required at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 sq.m of crown projection.
Young plants require more frequent and abundant watering during dry periods.
Loosening:
Mandatory for removing weeds and aerating the soil.
Mulching:
Mulching the tree trunk circle with peat, peat compost, wood chips in a layer of 8-12 cm.
Trimming:
Cutting out drying branches and clearing the trunk of shoots.
Pests:
Mite
Diseases:
Hole spot
Black spot
Preparing for winter:
In young plants, the trunk circles are sprinkled with fallen leaves.
To protect against frost damage, standard plants must be covered for the winter in the first 2-3 years after planting, wrapping the trunk with burlap in 1-2 layers. If frost holes do appear, you need to treat them with any antiseptic and cover them with garden varnish.
Common horse chestnut (lat. Aésculus hippocástanum) is a large deciduous tree, the most famous species of the Horse chestnut genus in Russia. Very often, common horse chestnut is simply called “horse chestnut”.
The specific epithet “common” helps to distinguish it from other species of the genus Horse chestnut. Although the common name contains the word "chestnut", horse chestnuts are not related to the genus Castanea, which belongs to the beech family (Fagaceae). The common horse chestnut belongs to the genus Horse chestnut (Aesculus) and the horse chestnut family (Hippocastanaceae).
The common Russian name, horse chestnut, comes from the similarity of the color of the shell of the fruit with “just” chestnut. Another version of the origin of the name indicates that the leaf scars remaining on the shoots after leaf fall resemble the shape of a horse’s horseshoe.
Another version says that the seeds were brought by the Turks to Central Europe as horse feed and used as a cure for horse cough. To distinguish them from edible chestnuts, they were called horse chestnuts (German: Rosskastanie).
The common horse chestnut is an elegant tree up to 36 m high with a low-hanging, spreading, wide-oval dome-shaped crown. On older trees, outer branches often droop.
The trunk is regular cylindrical in shape with dark brown lamellar bark.
The root system is powerful, with a taproot and strongly developed lateral roots, making this tree quite wind-resistant. Root hairs contain bacteria that absorb nitrogen from the air, so trees grow successfully on relatively nitrogen-poor soils. Young shoots and seedlings are thick. The buds are large, sticky, red-brown.
The leaves are opposite, large, up to 60 cm, palmately compound with 5-7 leaflets; each leaflet is 13-30 cm long, 3-10 wide, obovate, wedge-shaped at the base. The middle leaf is larger than the lateral ones, the petiole is very long, 15-20 cm.
The flowers are in terminal erect cone-shaped panicles 10-30 cm in size, white, usually with small yellow spots or specks.
Each panicle contains from 20 to 50 flowers. It blooms in May after the leaves bloom. The flowers have an interesting property: the yellow spots on the petals change color to red after the release of nectar stops. This serves as a signal to pollinating insects, and they stop visiting such flowers.
Typically only 1 to 5 fruits appear on each panicle. The fruits are green capsules with numerous spines, containing one (rarely two or three) nut-shaped seeds (often in common parlance called horse chestnuts or simply chestnuts). Each “chestnut” is 2-4 cm in diameter, shiny, nut-brown in color, with a whitish scar at the base.
The fruits ripen in August-September.
In nature it reproduces by seeds.
Distribution of the common horse chestnut
The common horse chestnut grows in a small area in the mountains of the Balkans (in the north of Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria) in deciduous forests along with alder, ash, maple, hornbeam, linden, beech and other tree species, rising up to altitudes 1,000-1,200 m above sea level.
It is found in the mountainous regions of Iran and in the foothills of the Himalayas. Widely cultivated in the temperate climate zone, common in plantings in many regions of the European part of Russia.
Long-lasting (under favorable conditions reaches an age of 200-300 years). Almost not damaged by insects. Tolerates transplantation well in adulthood.
Shade-tolerant, grows well in deep, loose soils - clay or sandy loam, sufficiently moist, but without excessive moisture. Tolerates fairly dry chernozem soils in the steppe zone, but does not tolerate saline soils well.
Sensitive to dry winds, which is why the leaves often burn badly in summer and fall off prematurely.
Winter-hardy in cultivation in the central zone of the European part of Russia (up to Moscow). At the latitude of Moscow, in very severe winters it freezes; Young trees also freeze in St. Petersburg, but in protected places they grow into large, abundantly flowering trees.
Economic importance and use of horse chestnut
The common horse chestnut, which retains its decorative value throughout the growing season, is a first-class tree for planting on streets, boulevards, alleys of gardens and parks. Its plantings create monumental groves in large parks and forest parks.
Notable for its beautiful shady crown and ornamental large leaves. It is especially beautiful during flowering, when its crown is decorated from top to bottom with large “candles” of erect inflorescences. It blooms profusely, however, only when planted freely, solitarily, on a lawn or edge.
In Russia, it is successfully bred in temperate climates with not too hot summers: at the latitude of St. Petersburg and Moscow (in protected places), in the Caucasus and the Far East.
Abroad, Russia is cultivated in many countries, including even the north of Canada (Alberta, Ontario), the Faroe Islands and Norway. In more southern regions it grows best in areas with a cool mountain climate.
In Bavaria, the common horse chestnut is a common beer garden tree. It was originally grown here for the deep shade in which beer cellar owners could crush ice from local rivers and lakes. This ice was used to cool beer in the summer. Nowadays beer lovers cool their heads in the shade. Beer garden of the Hofbräukeller beer garden in Munich
The fruits are used to produce women's jewelry (beads).
Chestnut seed (lat. Semen Hippocastani) is used as a medicinal raw material. The main active ingredients are triterpene saponins of the p-amyrin group, of which the main one is escin, a derivative of escigenin; coumarins of the oxy- and methoxycoumarin group (esculin, fraxin); flavonoids, derivatives of quercetin and kaempferol.
The preparations “Eskuzan” (aqueous-alcoholic extract of seeds) and “Esflazide”, containing escin and the sum of flavonoids from the leaves, are used as a venotonic and antithrombic agent for venous stagnation and dilation of the veins of the lower extremities. Escin can be used in the treatment of conditions such as edema, distortion, and in dietary supplements (the same applies to esculin).
Bitter-tasting fruits, especially unripe ones, are slightly poisonous. If they are eaten, poisoning may occur. Some mammals, particularly deer, can eat them safely. Sometimes the fruits are used to feed livestock.
In the past, horse chestnut seeds, which contain a soapy liquid (due to the presence of saponins), were used in France and Switzerland to bleach hemp, flax, silk and wool.
Linen, washed in this liquid and then rinsed in running water, acquired a sky blue color.
Horse chestnut wood has no commercial value, although it has fairly high strength and is easily dried with minimal loss of quality. Suitable for making small household items and crafts, box packaging.
Horse chestnut leaves are eaten by the larvae of the chestnut leaf miner (Cameraria ohridella), first recorded in Europe in 1985.
Gives honey bees a lot of nectar (with a sugar content of 65 to 75%) and pollen, and in the spring - glue (propolis). Honey collected from horse chestnut quickly crystallizes in honeycombs, so it cannot be used for winter feeding of bees.
During the last two world wars, the horse chestnut fruit was used as a source of starch, which in turn could be used to produce acetone using a method developed by Chaim Weizmann through fermentation with Clostridium acetobutylicum. Acetone, as a solvent, facilitated the process of extrusion of ballistite into cordite in the production of ammunition.
Chestnut is a beautiful ornamental tree that has become a real decoration of household plots and streets of many cities. A wide crown of unusually beautiful leaves gives shade and coolness, and delicate flowers give a pleasant light aroma. Some varieties of chestnut have tasty fruits.
Thanks to its ability to grow in almost any climatic conditions, chestnut has become a decoration of parks. This tree is most often found in the southern regions of Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. It is used as a crop to decorate city streets, park alleys, and garden plots.
Description
A mature horse chestnut tree reaches a height of 30 meters. The crown of a tree can be shaped like a ball, a pyramid, a column, or have a weeping shape like a willow.
The leaves are large, palmate with a dense surface and green, golden or variegated in color.
Chestnut inflorescences have the shape of a brush. The flowers, depending on the variety, are simple or double, colored white, yellow, pink or red.
The flowering period begins in May, but if there is an increase in temperature in winter, chestnut flowers may bloom.
Fruit ripening occurs at the end of August - beginning of September. Chestnut fruits are edible and taste similar to sweet potatoes. They are also used in folk medicine to prepare tinctures.
Varieties
Horse chestnut is the most common type of this plant. In addition to it, other species are grown:
Every gardener with experience in growing plants can grow a beautiful spreading tree on his plot. To do this, you need to follow simple rules for planting and caring for chestnuts.
When deciding to plant horse chestnut, you should know that wood requires a lot of space. In order for the crown to develop well and form correctly, the distance from the tree to the nearest buildings or other plantings must be at least five meters. Only in this case will the horse chestnut develop normally and will not oppress other plants.
Caring for horse chestnut is easy, practically no other plants grow in the shade of the tree, which allows you to create a resting place under its crown.
Landing
When planting a chestnut, remember that the tree requires significant space, good lighting and protection from cold winds and drafts.
Chestnut is shade-tolerant, but flowering occurs only with good sunlight.
For seedlings, a large area is chosen, since the plant’s powerful root system and spreading crown require a lot of space.
In order for the tree trunk to be smooth and not deformed, the plant should not be exposed to gusts of wind and constant drafts.
Planting young plants in open ground is carried out in the spring when the soil warms up. It is not recommended to plant seedlings in the fall, as they can be damaged by rodents in winter.
Chestnut requires slightly acidic, nutritious, loose soil. The tree grows well on loamy or chernozem soil. Dense soil is not suitable for plants, since the root system will not be able to develop normally. When planting, care should be taken to ensure drainage to avoid moisture stagnation.
Selection of seedlings
Watering
An adult chestnut tree easily tolerates a lack of moisture. Watering is necessary if the summer is very hot and there is no rain for a long time. Regular watering is required only for young plants.
Weeding and loosening
Weeding of the soil around young plantings should be carried out regularly. It is usually combined with shallow loosening of the soil and weed control.
As the tree grows, the need for these measures disappears, since the dense crown suppresses growth near any plants.
Trimming
During pruning, a lush, spreading crown of the tree is formed. To do this, in the spring the upper branches are cut to ¼ of the length. Side shoots that grow in summer are not pruned. This pruning is carried out every year until the tree reaches the required height.
When pruning, 5 strong side shoots are left. After crown formation is completed, no pruning is carried out.
Sanitary pruning is carried out regularly in spring. It allows you to remove dried and pest-damaged branches.
When pruning young plants, the regrown shoots are shortened by half their length. In summer, thin branches should be removed. This will help prevent crown thickening.
After the pruning is completed, the cut areas are treated with garden varnish.
Reproduction
Chestnut is propagated by cuttings and seeds.
The cuttings are taken in the fall, after the bark of the main plant has matured and the buds have formed. For planting, cuttings up to 30 centimeters long with 5-7 well-developed buds are required. They are placed in planting boxes filled with sawdust for rooting.
For seed propagation, well-ripened, whole, undamaged nuts are used. Seed germination is possible only after stratification, which under natural conditions occurs in fallen leaves, where the nuts overwinter and sprout in spring.
At home for stratification of nuts placed in damp sand and stored in a cool room for two to five months. Before planting, they should be immersed in warm water. This will soften the shell and break down the substances it contains that prevent germination.
Then the seeds are planted in open ground in a garden plot to a depth of 10 centimeters. You can also plant them in small pots. In this case, planting can be done without waiting for the onset of spring, and at the end of May the seedlings can be transplanted to a personal plot.
If you shorten the taproot slightly when replanting, a strong superficial root system will develop in the future. Caring for seedlings includes regular loosening of the soil, weeding and watering. In the second year after planting, the seedlings must be thinned out.
Feeding and fertilizer
Fertilizers are applied annually in early spring. As a top dressing, a composition of ammonium nitrate, urea, phosphorus-potassium fertilizer and manure is used.
You can also use compost, grass infusions, and humus with added mineral fertilizers for fertilizing.
Before applying fertilizers, the soil is mulched using peat, sawdust and wood shavings, which will later become a good fertilizer for the tree.
Preparing for winter
Chestnut easily tolerates winter frosts, but still needs additional preparation for cold weather. Protection from low temperatures and cold winds is necessary for young plantings in the first 3 years.
To prepare the plant for winter, you should mulch the tree trunk circle and cover the trunks with burlap or non-woven covering material. This can avoid cracks in the bark. If they do appear, they are treated with an antiseptic solution and garden pitch.
Chestnut is susceptible to the development of fungal diseases, powdery mildew, and anthracnose. To eliminate diseases, as well as for preventive purposes, trees are treated with Bordeaux mixture and other fungicidal agents.
Among the insect pests that most often attack trees are Japanese beetles, borers, bagworms and the previously unknown Balkan moth. Insecticidal preparations are used to control pests.
To prevent diseases and breeding of pests, you should burn fallen leaves during the autumn cleaning of your garden plot.