Dunstan Chestnut Tree Update March 2019

In fall of 2018 I planted some Dunstan Chestnut trees near a permanent deer stand in Georgia, watering them as needed during deer season. Thankfully, we had a fairly wet winter and they received plenty of moisture. Once they reach maturity, these blight-resistant chestnuts should attract deer, which are said to prefer them 100 to 1 over acorns.

I checked on the trees on March 25, 2019 and wanted to post an update for interested folks. I’ll number the trees 1 through 4 so I can keep track of their development. The first one is shown in the photo above, and as the woods around were just beginning to put out new leaves after the long winter, so was the chestnut tree, pushing out small green growth that I could see when peering down the grow tube that protects the young sapling.

I couldn’t detect any new growth on tree number 2, but it may have simply been obscured by last year’s leaves. I will check on them again in a few weeks.

Tree 3 had already begun to show some new growth. Nice!

Tree 4 was not showing any new growth, although I could definitely see the top of the thin tree’s trunk. (The green in the photo is a plastic tie securing the tree to a stake.) Hopefully it was just a little bit behind and I’ll find some green leaves on my next visit.

I’ll continue to keep readers updated on the progress of my tiny trees. If you’re interested in growing your own, check at your local Wal-Mart garden center, where they can be found in many areas.

See the April 2019 Update to learn which trees survived

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.