Your Native Hybrid Hazelnut, Chestnut and Heartnut Tree Nursery

Learn all about chestnuts and hazelnuts and other northern nuts. Hardy nut trees for home or orchard needs

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Welcome to Z's Nutty Ridge Nursery. The nursery for cold hardy nut trees if you need one for your yard or a thousand for your orchard.

Why we exist and we're happy you are here!

Over 30 years ago we realized a large percentage of land was abandoned by farmers throughout the Northeast. The fields were getting filled with invasive bushes, sumacs, maples, and ashes. Taking natures lead, the search was on to find what trees could be planted to make the fields productive again.

After much research, we planted many thousands of nut trees of all types to learn what would grow in our colder USDA zones.  It turns out the best nut trees were native to our region, just hybridized for disease resistance and large tasty bumper crops of nuts. Take advantage of our experience and buy our proven trees and named cultivars. You can have nuts in as little as two years. In fact, we have hazelnut cultivars you can only buy from us.

If you want to learn more just go to our hazelnuts and chestnuts information pages. Nut trees once established can out live you while providing healthy food security and sustainability.

"You know planting trees are good for the environment; but, nut trees are good for you too"

We appreciate visitors but by appointment only please. We do not have a physical store front and we may be in the field or not on site. Please call for an appointment at 607 310 1318

NITKA Nuts  A beautiful hazelnut for Zone 4 and possible 3b.

Blog posts

How to Layer Chestnuts and make copies of your best trees

Cloning your best chestnut trees allows you to make identical copies of a tree that you believe is a superior tree. Clones of a superior tree you can plant on final spacing to increase productivity or expand your orchard and share or trade the best genetics with other growers.   Cloning a known tree via layering is lower cost than most seedlings without the unknown production, disease resistance and double planting needed for seedlings. 

In only a few easy steps we can do this by encouraging sucker (a.k.a. shoot) growth, then encouraging root growth on the suckers and then dig them up before they start to grow again in the following spring.

Fall news letter From Z's Nutty Ridge LLC

What is in this newsletter?

  • Z’s Nutty Ridge First farm tour August 19th
  • We had a deep late freeze and then a drought. Are the trees okay, Answered!
  • NYTCA Cooperative is setting up shop.
  • NYTCA is hiring an Outreach Coordinator
  • Cultivar Spotlight – Photon - A very unusual hazelnut tree

Summer 2023 Newsletter

What is in this newsletter? We had a deep late freeze and then a drought. Will the trees be oka...

Customer Testimonial.

"Thank you , Dawn & Jeff!! Trees arrived in great shape, with an extra! and packed like you all care very much about your outgoing seedlings. Thanks for autographing the book; we are looking forward to starting and are pleased to do business with you folks." Bruce & Lisa M.

Customer testimonial

"I received my order today of 7 hazelnut trees and they arrived in perfect condition. The way you boxed them was the best I have seen from any nursery. John Gordon was a friend of mine and we went nut hunting two or three times every fall. He would always bring me hazelnut trees because that’s the one thing I didn’t have. I have moved and that orchard is gone now so I am happy to get these trees going with my American chestnuts." Paul A.

Customer Testimonial

Upon hearing a tree did not survive the winter... Wow, what great service — the new tree arrived already this morning! Thank you again for the replacement and for your conscientious service. I will recommend you to anyone who’s looking for nut trees. Carol M.