Horse chestnut
Aesculus hippocastanum
A young horse chestnut with a characterful forked trunk. Previously shared its pot with a maple-like seedling, now recorded separately. Both are wintering outside somewhere sheltered.
- Common name
- Horse chestnut
- Section
- Trees & shrubs
- Spot
- Garden (sheltered spot)
- Soil
- Potting mix
- Options
Bonsai · Plant out
Bonsai
Bonsai: possible, but the large leaves make a larger design more practical.
Plant out
Alternatively, a garden tree where there is plenty of room.
- From
- Free from a local online marketplace (from the same lady who gave us Arthur), Sep 2026
- Age
- About 1 year
- Next repot
- Around Apr 2027
- Edible
- ❌ No: Conkers are poisonous. For conker fights only.
- Hardy
- ✅ Fully
- Garden-centre price
- about £20
Did you know?
In 1917, British schoolchildren collected conkers to help make acetone for explosives.
Care & updates
- What to expect
- Fast growth once settled, often 30 cm or more a year in a good pot. Leaves drop in autumn and burst back in spring.
- Feeding
- Every 28 days, Apr–Aug, with Balanced liquid feed, half strength
- Tidy-up and shelter
Removed crispy leaves and dead stems, trimmed away the definitely dead parts of the remaining leaves, and moved to a sheltered spot.
- Repotted
Soaked, teased apart from its pot-mate and potted up on its own in fresh potting mix. See root records.
Before: two seedlings, welded into one rootball 
A good long soak to loosen things up 
Parted from its pot-mate - Observation
Arrived today, two stems plus a small third seedling in one pot. Autumn yellowing and some spotting on the leaves.
On arrival, still sharing a pot 
On arrival, another angle
Root records (1)
View larger, with detailsRootboundMix: Potting mix
Roots completely intertwined with its pot-mate. Soaked, then teased apart by hand. Plenty of healthy, fibrous roots once separated.