In the Bay area, go for Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa), as that is the species best adapted to Mediterranean-type climates. There are numerous cultivars selected for large nut size. Yes, you'll need two or (preferably!) more different cultivars to get good pollination.

I've not heard of grafting problems before - most European chestnut orchards are grafted trees. They are of course sativa cultivars grafted on sativa seedling rootstocks, so it may be a question of poor inter-species compatibility.

Resin

In your area, you might want to try American Chestnut (Castanea dentata). You're far enough outside its native region that blight shouldn't present a problem.

Hi Resin and qm, thanks for your reply. I'm still debating whether or not to consider trying to grow a chestnut tree. I've limited space in the yard and these trees grow pretty big.. plus I would need two of them! It would be nice if I could get a neighbor to grow one so they both weren't in my yard but fat chance of that happening. My neighbors don't seem to take much interest in their yards much less plants. I'll definately give it some more though and thanks for the cultivar suggestions. I'll probably spend the next few months mulling this over but will update the trees forum if I do get some of these trees.

Best,
Meixue

Don't know if this is only a problem in British English, but when you say chestnut, which genus do you mean, Castanea (sweet chestnuts) or Aesculus (horse chestnuts). You need to get that sorted before you start thinking about species!

I bought some of the hybrid American/Chinese chestnuts from Oikos Tree Crops. So far they are doing good in our gulf coast heat.

Oikos has an excellent reputation.

If space is a problem, you might consider the relatively compact Allegheny Chinquapin (Castanea pumila) or the American Chestnut/Chinquapin hybrid (C. neglecta).

As to the taxonony question, I haven't run into much confusion, as horsechestnuts over here tend to be referred to as buckeyes.

Hi all, thanks for your replies. I'm still mulling it over whether I'll get the chestnut trees. It looks like many people are suggesting the American Chesnut so I'll consider it when making my final selectins and will also check out Oikos.

Thanks again for the input.
Meixue

While I'm a nut tree enthusiast, and have a number of chestnuts - mostly seedling American or hybrids - growing here on the farm, I can't say that I'd want a pair(or more) of chestnuts in my yard, unless it was an expansive lawn and I could locate the chestnuts far away from the house.
The burs that the chestnuts are enclosed within are exceedingly spiny, and you'd not want to step on or kick one in your tennis shoes, much less barefoot or in sandals/flip-flops.
And, they really stink when in bloom; kind of a chlorine bleach sort of smell, to me.

I've never noticed any nasty smell with Sweet Chestnut when they're flowering. Also its burrs may be softer than American Chestnut burrs - I'd not want to tread on one barefoot, but thin tennis shoes, no problem, I've often used such shoes to open up the burrs to get the nuts out. It does get to be a large tree, though; one in my local park is 28m tall.

Resin