Another recent and exciting grant award! SilvoCulture was recently awarded a SARE grant for a three-year plan to revitalize a neglected 60-year-old chestnut orchard in Frederick, MD. SilvoCulture had previously mapped and selectively harvested in the orchard to study its productivity, genetics, and disease/pest challenges. This grant will allow for SilvoCulture to work with an arborist to prune select trees in the orchard and to compare harvest outcomes within treated and control groups. 

This project will help SilvoCulture to learn more about best management practices for chestnut trees. As SilvoCulture continues to create new chestnut orchards, it is very important to plan well for tree spacing, pruning, and maintenance that allows for ecological management and high yields. A neglected orchard can develop issues with low light, low air flow, and pest/disease pressures which decrease yields. Stay tuned for updates on how this project is progressing.