UK Stock / Quick Postage

Recyclable Packaging

Bee & Insect Friendly

Sweet Chestnut Tree – Marlhac (Cell)

Castanea sativa

£12.37

The Marlhac Sweet Chestnut is a top pick for UK gardens. This French variety of Castanea sativa is famed for its large, tasty nuts and beautiful, spreading shape. It grows slowly into a grand tree, offering lovely shade, attractive autumn colours, and a yearly crop of delicious chestnuts.

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  • ✓ French variety of sweet chestnut prized for its large, high-quality nuts
  • ✓ Develops into a majestic spreading tree, ideal for creating shade in UK gardens
  • ✓ Attracts pollinators with spring catkins and provides food for wildlife in autumn
  • ✓ Hardy tree well-suited to British weather, can reach 20 metres if not pruned
  • ✓ Quality UK grown stock from Yarrow Gardens - DEFRA Registered Supplier

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Feel free to call 01257 752247 or email us if you would prefer to order on the phone or have any questions. Trade / wholesale enquiries are welcome.

The Marlhac Sweet Chestnut is a fantastic choice for UK gardeners who want a tree that’s both beautiful and useful. This French variety of Castanea sativa stands out for its large, high-quality nuts and impressive spreading canopy. It grows into a majestic tree that becomes a stunning focal point in any garden, offering welcome shade on hot summer days.

Sweet chestnuts have grown in Britain since Roman times, but the Marlhac cultivar is a more recent French import. UK gardeners love it because it thrives in our climate and produces bigger, tastier nuts than many other varieties.

The Marlhac Sweet Chestnut grows slowly, so it won’t overtake your garden overnight. If you let it, it can reach about 20 metres tall, but you can keep it smaller with regular pruning. In late spring, the tree puts on a show with long, catkin-like flowers that bees and other pollinators flock to. Then, as autumn rolls around, you’ll enjoy a harvest of delicious chestnuts, perfect for roasting or adding to your favourite recipes.

But this tree offers more than just nuts. Its large, serrated leaves turn a warm golden colour in autumn, bringing a cosy glow to your garden as the days shorten. Even in winter, the tree looks interesting, with its distinctive bark pattern adding texture to the landscape.

For gardeners after a tree that combines beauty with practicality, the Marlhac Sweet Chestnut ticks all the boxes. It’s hardy enough to thrive in most UK gardens, promising years of shade, beauty, and tasty nuts. It’s also a great way to get children excited about gardening – they’ll love hunting for the spiky cases and cracking them open to find the shiny brown nuts inside.

The Marlhac Sweet Chestnut is quite easy to look after, making it suitable for gardeners of all skill levels. It prefers a sunny spot and well-drained soil, but it’s not overly fussy. When you first plant your tree, water it often for the first year to help it settle in. After that, it copes well with dry spells. Give it a feed with general-purpose fertiliser in spring, and spread mulch around the base to keep moisture in and weeds out. Prune in late winter to shape the tree and remove any dead or crossing branches.
These are the named cultivar Marlhac. However, as they are open pollinated from a Sweet Chestnut orchard, there is a chance this is cross-pollinated with another Sweet Chestnut cultivar. This will be the same for most of the named varieties of Sweet Chestnuts available for sale.

Ultimate height
Higher than 12 metres

Time to ultimate height
20–50 years

Ultimate spread
Wider than 8 metres

These are this year’s saplings we have grown ourselves. Cell grown. Supplied as bare rooted cells.

Approx 40cm tall.

Season of Interest

Autumn

Sunlight

Full Shade, Full Sun, Partial Shade, Partial Sun


Pot Size

Cell

Foliage

Deciduous

Foliage Colour

Green

Hardiness

-20°C to -15°C (H6)

When Mature

Safety

Child Safe, Pollen Allergies, Pet Safe

Watering

Moderate

Preferred Soil Type

Any well drained soil

Preferred Soil pH

Acidic


Edible Plant
Edible


Our deep cell trays are a smart strategy for cultivating trees with strong and deep root systems. This leads to healthier and more resilient trees that are better prepared for transplantation and long-term growth in your garden.

Extended Planting Season

Cell grown trees offer a significantly broader planting window, allowing for planting almost year-round in certain conditions. This flexibility ensures easier scheduling and enhances tree establishment due to warmer soil and more favourable weather conditions, extending beyond the traditional planting season.

Robust Root System

The roots of cell grown trees are encased and safeguarded within compost, preventing the young fibrous roots from drying out or sustaining damage. This intact root system, with its uniform and manageable shape, facilitates straightforward planting.

Convenient Storage

These trees can be effortlessly stored outdoors before planting, eliminating the need for labour-intensive temporary planting (heeling in) or costly refrigerated storage.

Ease of Handling and Planting

The extended shelf life of cell grown trees means there’s no immediate urgency to plant. Their user-friendly root system increases the likelihood of successful planting. These characteristics make them ideal for planting by novices or volunteers.

High Survival Rate

The intact root system of cell grown trees significantly boosts their chances of successful establishment, virtually removing the need for expensive replanting (beating up).

Cost-Effectiveness

While the initial purchase price of cell grown trees may be slightly higher than bare-root stock for some species, the long-term savings achieved by reducing the need for replacing failed transplants than compensates for the initial minor cost difference.

No plastic waste

Trees are often supplied plastic pots that are difficult to recycle, especially the black pots. We rely on our customers to reuse these where possible, however these cell grown trees do not have plastic pots – saving any reuse & recycling concerns.

Delivery
Yarrow Gardens aim to have your order with you in fastest time possible and safest method of transport. Dependent on the parcel size and geographical destination in mind with will select the most suitable courier.

You are welcome to collect any times from our nursery in Euxton, Lancashire. Please contact us to arrange a suitable date and time.

With regret, we can no longer send items out to Northern Ireland. All live plants need a phytosanitary checks and DAERA must be notified. This process is simply too expensive at the moment.

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Returns
In the rare instance that your item has been damaged during delivery or incorrectly shipped by us, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss the return and replacement of your item.

Once you have contacted us and we have confirmation that your parcel is on its way back to us we will be happy to issue a refund for the return postage.

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Delivery charges will be based on the highest applicable rate from our rate table, determined by the items in your order.
Alternatively, we offer the option to collect your items in person by prior arrangement.
These prices are based on delivery to UK Mainland. Delivery to Highlands & Islands will be more.
Delivery Class Delivery Cost
Royal Mail Letter - Royal Mail Tracked £3.25 (Flat)
Royal Mail Letter - Royal Mail Second Class £0.95 (Flat)
Royal Mail Large Letter - Royal Mail Tracked £3.25 (Flat)
Royal Mail Large Letter - Royal Mail Second Class £2.10 (Flat)
Standard Items - Standard Courier (Parcelforce) £7.95 (Flat)This item
Standard Items - Standard Courier (Evri) £4.49 (Flat)This item
Medium Items - Standard Courier (Parcelforce) £7.95 (Flat)
Large Items - Pallet Courier £90.00 (Flat)
Large Items - Standard Courier (Parcelforce) £28.95 (Flat)
Large Items - Standard Courier (Parcel Force) £24.95 (Flat)
Pallet Courier - Pallet Courier£90.00 (Flat)

We are a small family business based in Euxton, West Lancashire. We specialise in the supply of trees, shrubs both bare root & cell grown. Much of our stock is grown directly on site from seed or cuttings. Other stock is all UK sourced where possible.

We adhere to industry leading biosecurity measures, this ensures that our nursery remains clean and disease free.

We are DEFRA registered and our nursery is regularly inspected to confirm compliance with all current plant and plant health regulations.

Our Plant Passport Registration Number is GB140010

You can view our Plant Healthy report here.

We are actively working towards the Grown in Britain certification along with the Plant Healthy certification.

Should you have any concern or question in respect of our plant health matters, please get in touch.