Castanea sativa 'Marone'
Marron chestnut
Common names: Sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −25 °C
- Harvest
- Oct–Nov
- Spacing
- 800 cm, rows 900 cm
- Water need
- Medium
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Miguel Angel Masegosa Martínez · CC BY 2.0 · Source
Description
The marron chestnut 'Marone' is a cultivated sweet chestnut with particularly large, easily peelable fruits and a mild, sweet taste. It grows into a stately tree and usually requires a second seedling or another variety for pollination. In winter-mild regions such as the Rhineland or the Palatinate it feels especially comfortable.
Care instructions
Plant the tree in a warm, full-sun location with deep, lime-free, well-draining soil. Set it in the fall, October week 43, and give it plenty of water during the first years. Harvest the chestnuts from mid-October, week 42, when the spiny fruit cups open and the glossy brown nuts fall to the ground.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestOct–Nov
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, well-drained, humus-rich, lime-avoiding
The marrone needs a deep, loose and free-draining, sandy-loamy soil, ideally with more than 70 cm of rooting space. It is lime-averse: on calcareous or heavy clay soils prone to compaction, it reacts with iron chlorosis (yellow leaves). Avoid such soils and above all waterlogging; when planting, loosen the hole well and enrich it with mature compost.
Feeding
Heavy feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
In spring (March to April), at the start of growth before the late bud break, work mature compost and horn shavings shallowly into the tree circle. In the first years in place, you can repeat the organic application once or twice over the season. From the fruiting phase on, a good potassium supply is important because marrones draw a lot of potassium; use potassium-rich compost for this. An autumn application of well-rotted manure around the tree circle supports the humus balance in the long term. Do not lime.
Overwintering
Mature sweet chestnuts are fully hardy and need no protection in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Protect young trees in the first two to three years with a mulch layer of leaves around the root zone, and in harsh locations wrap the trunk in hessian fleece; place young potted specimens on an insulating wooden board and wrap the pot in hessian; in very cold locations it is better to overwinter them cool and frost-free.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Grafting
For a marrone that is true to type (e.g. ‘Bouche de Bétizac’), grafting is the only sensible method: you raise your rootstocks from seedlings of the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) or buy them ready-made. Cut the scions in December to January during dormancy and store them moist in sand or the fridge. In spring, April to early May, when the bark of the rootstock loosens easily, graft by bark grafting or whip-and-tongue grafting. Grafted trees bear fruit from year 4 to 5, seedlings only after 10 to 20 years.
If, on the other hand, you want to raise a tree (not true to type) from seed, collect fresh, heavy nuts without bruises in autumn. Soak them for 24 to 48 hours in lukewarm, low-lime water, then store them cool and moist at 0 to 10 °C for several weeks (stratification). As soon as you see the first radicles, set the nuts singly in deep pots (at least 30 to 40 cm, for the taproot). In April/May the young plants go outdoors. Note: sweet chestnuts are self-sterile, so for a fruit crop you need at least two trees about 10 m apart.
Cuttings of Castanea sativa have hardly any rooting success even under special conditions and are not practical for home gardeners. Layering is technically not feasible on a mature tree.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
For your garden
Grow Marron chestnut yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
Notes from real gardens
What other gardeners have written down about this variety, anonymous and voluntary.
No notes shared yet. Will you be the first to write one down?
From the magazine
Sweet Chestnut: Growing and Harvesting Your Own Marrons
The sweet chestnut is not the horse chestnut: it gives you edible marrons, wants acidic, warm soil and needs a second tree for pollination. Here is how to get the site, care and the prickly autumn harvest right.
Pruning Nut Trees: Walnut, Sweet Chestnut, and Hazel
The walnut bleeds in spring and is only pruned in late summer, while the sweet chestnut is tough and forgiving. Training, deadwood, and timing for all three nut trees.