Are horse chestnuts hard to grow?

Q: I love horse-chestnut trees. Are they hard to grow?

A: Not if you have plenty of room and don't mind cleaning up after them in autumn. The common horse-chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) has lovely tiers of ivory-blushed-with-pink flowers that grow in plumes above the leaves in late spring, and glossy seeds encased in prickly pods in autumn. They can be a problem in the city because horse-chestnut roots are so invasive they break and uproot pavement, and the trees grow 60 feet high and 40 feet wide. Before planting any, get a dose of reality by taking a stroll along horse-chestnut-lined Bigelow Avenue North on Queen Anne Hill.

For the record, and to save a few calls, horse chestnuts are not edible.

Q: I have been trying to reach the Seattle Tree Fruit Society to order more of the maggot barriers you wrote about in April 2007. They do work very well. Does the group have a new address or e-mail address?

A: The Seattle Tree Fruit Society, composed of home-orchard enthusiasts, is a knowledgeable group devoted to education. You can learn more at their Web page, www.geocities.com/wcfsfruit/STFS_Welcome.html. The STFS is a member of the larger Western Cascade Fruit Society, whose Web page (www.wcfs.org) lists what days maggot barriers will be on sale at the Olympia Farmers Market as well as other fruit society sales and events. Gardeners can purchase maggot barriers by sending a request to seattletreefruitsociety@hotmail.com or by calling Linda Sartnurak at 425-271-6264.

Q: I love figs and want to grow a fig plant. I understand it is not a hardy plant for the area where I live (Issaquah). But I was told that some people grow fig trees successfully in the Seattle and Redmond areas. Due to size limitation, I am looking for a very small fig tree that is hardy enough to survive this area's winter but bears sweet fruits. Do you have a recommendation?

A: Fig trees have scalloped leaves that look quite tropical, so you get not only a great landscape tree but delicious fruit when you grow a hardy fig (Ficus carica).

Raintree Nursery in Morton, Wa., sells figs that ripen early and are reliably hardy down to 10 degrees (Zone 7). I know you're a little colder in Issaquah than in Seattle, but if you have a warm, south-facing location sheltered from cold winds, you should be able to grow this tree and ripen the fruit. Even in an especially cold winter, the tree might freeze to the ground but will resprout from the roots the following spring.

Ficus carica is a spreading tree that grows to 25 feet but can easily be kept smaller with pruning. It also takes well to being espaliered against a wall or fence; this is a good way to maximize sun to ripen the fruit against a south-facing wall. Find the right spot, and your fig will produce two crops of fruit each year — the first ripening in August and the second later in autumn. These handsome trees are pest-free, take two to four years to produce fruit and can live up to 100 years.

Raintree Nursery's catalog and Web page are an education on growing fruit in our climate; see www.raintreenursery.com or call 360-496-6400.

Valerie Easton also writes about Plant Life in Sunday's Pacific Northwest Magazine. Write to her at P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111 or e-mail planttalk@seattletimes.com with your questions. Sorry, no personal replies.

The information in this article, originally published June 11, 2008, was corrected June 22, 2008. A previous version of this story listed incorrect contact information for purchase of maggot barriers. The information has been corrected.