In article ,
Ger wrote:

I have a large 'common' chestnut tree in the middle of my front lawn.
About 30 feet high. Grown from a single chestnut 25 years ago.
As the years go by it is producing enormous crops of chestnuts.
In the autumn I rake the leaves and nuts and leave them rot under the tree.

Have the chestnuts any use? Or is it best to just leave 'em?

Over the years I have potted a few and given them to friends.
But last years there were thousands of nuts.
Any ideas?

Fatten a pig?

Chestnuts can be used in a great variety of ways, including grinding
into flour. While I haven't used it myself, I would expect it to be
very suitable for a lot of purposes where you use flour in puddings
and so on. But it is always very fiddly preparing them, as even the
inner rind is rich in tannin :-)

P.S. Is it OK to trim back such a tree? Cut a few feet off the branches?

As you can coppice chestnut, my guess is that you can cut it back as
hard as you like and it will resprout vigorously.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679