Nut Trees - clay with limestone

I live in southwest ohio and we have a clay based soil with limestone bedrock. Great for corn, but not so good for some nut trees (like Chestnuts). Black walnut trees and shagbark hickory grow wild here, but I was wondering if I would have any luck with hazelnuts, pine nuts, and/or pecans (or perhaps hicans) with this kind of soil. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am particularly interested in hazelnuts since I can use them as an understory bush and because they start producing relatively quickly.

Hazels should be fine. I have awful clay and they are growing well here (butternut, not so much.)

We're straight clay on limestone karst topography setup here in the Shenandoah Valley and there are a plethora of Chestnuts making a comeback with the chinese hybrids. I bought two last year from a grower and his "plantation" thrives in our soil. The squirrels are our problem.

although all are babies I have black walnut, carpathian walnut, butternut, hickory nut, sweet chestnut, halls hardy almond and hazelnut all growing on our property which is mostly all clay..the stone here is shale or slate..

Pecans tend to like lowland areas.

"Upland soils are suitable for pecan trees if they
have at least 3 feet of friable topsoil and a sandy clay
subsoil that allows free penetration of both water and air."

Check the note about PH.

http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/library/hort2/mf1025.pdf

David Miller wrote:We're straight clay on limestone karst topography setup here in the Shenandoah Valley and there are a plethora of Chestnuts making a comeback with the chinese hybrids.  

Oh boy here i go digging out an 8 year old thread...

My question is, did you get you ph tested? Karst is usually rather alkaline and chestnuts do prefer acidic soil.

Are those chinese hybrids more tolerant for alkaline soil, or am i wrong with my assumption that
karst is generally alkaline?