Pruning chestnuts

So, I planted 4 hybrid chestnut trees in our yard about 3 years ago. The next summer, they leafed out very late and didn’t grow much. Winter then killed off that new growth plus a little more. Last summer they started growing suckers from the base and no real central leader developed. Now this summer, I can’t decide how to prune them. They’re growing more like bushes than trees and I dont know how much of an issue this is or why it’s happening. I intended on these being our canopy of our food forest, growing straight and tall. Now it looks like they want to be smaller bushes. Our soil is heavy and has a decent amount of clay, plus I probably planted them a little bit deeper than ideal. So maybe their growth habits are due to stress. Ive considered replanting but since they’re alive and growing, I dont know.

Should I just pick the tallest, straightest sucker and call that the leader, pruning off the others? Or should I keep the suckers and prune off whatever is in the middle forming more of a vase shape? Or dig them up and replant on a sandy mound this fall? Im looking for nut production more than aesthetics and dont know enough about nut trees to know how to handle this. Any advice is appreciated!

if they’re in pretty much full sun, they’ll go for width at least as much or more than height. you can definitely choose the tallest or straightest for a leader (you probably want at least to be above deer browse level before much branching happens or it’ll get frustrating) and stake if needed. a vase shape can work too, it’s one of the shapes they fairly naturally take. at our chestnut orchard we try to keep a central leader to 6 feet and then it’s up to them. i have one at home that i’ve barely shaped that’s more or less vase-shaped…but it’s in a spot that’s inaccessible to deer so it hasn’t needed to be guarded, which is what leads us to single-leader.

greg mosser wrote:if they’re in pretty much full sun, they’ll go for width at least as much or more than height. you can definitely choose the tallest or straightest for a leader (you probably want at least to be above deer browse level before much branching happens or it’ll get frustrating) and stake if needed. a vase shape can work too, it’s one of the shapes they fairly naturally take. at our chestnut orchard we try to keep a central leader to 6 feet and then it’s up to them. i have one at home that i’ve barely shaped that’s more or less vase-shaped…but it’s in a spot that’s inaccessible to deer so it hasn’t needed to be guarded, which is what leads us to single-leader.

We have deer pressure here so getting them above the browse line before branching isnt a bad idea. And they are in full sun so maybe a vase shape would work well. None of the leaders go straight up though. They all shoot off from the side of the stem and then go roughly straight up. I guess my thoughts of nice tall straight trees has to be let go of because I cant see these turning out that way. But so long as they are healthy and productive I’ll be happy. I dont know what to pick as a central leader though when my choices are all side shoots of roughly the same length. And should I prune now or wait until dormant in winter?

pruning now will discourage more of the same growth. pruning while dormant will likely just encourage more branching/ side growth.

also, you’ll probably be surprised how much bends and kinks in the initial growth will be minimized by future growth as the trunk thickens.  no need to give up on ‘normal’ looking trees at this point. hybrid chestnuts are not timber trees, though. a long straight trunk that goes way up was probably never going to happen.

greg mosser wrote:pruning now will discourage more of the same growth. pruning while dormant will likely just encourage more branching/ side growth.

also, you’ll probably be surprised how much bends and kinks in the initial growth will be minimized by future growth as the trunk thickens.  no need to give up on ‘normal’ looking trees at this point. hybrid chestnuts are not timber trees, though. a long straight trunk that goes way up was probably never going to happen.

Good to know, thanks for the information! Ill just pick the straightest, strongest looking branch and keep that as the leader and trim the rest