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Growing

Date : 2007-10-10 18:14:26

How to Grow a Horse Chestnut Tree


Hopefully you've received a conker in the post. If not, and you'd like to grow a Horse Chestnut of your own, go find a conker before the squirrels get there first.

Plant the conker about an inch deep in a small well drained (holes in the bottom) pot filled with an equal mix of compost and soil.

Keep in a shady spot protected from frost, cold winds, birds and those squirrels over winter.

In spring, move to a sunny spot and water occasionally to keep from drying out.

By next November, the young tree should be stong enough to plant out.

Choose a well-drained site with plenty of room for a big tree. If you're not fortunate to own enough land for this, make sure you've got permission from the landowner. Dig a hole big enough to spread the roots out, and bury up to the root collar (where the roots grow out of the stem). Ideally, mulch three to four inches, one metre all around the tree.

If you can, pop back every so often to water, weed, firm the soil and generally look after your tree.

You may want to help your grandchildren collect more conkers from this tree one day.