Walnut Tree

Zigs

Zigs

Well-known member
Moderator
Location
Kent, England
Hardiness zone
9a
We were given this seedling a few years ago and have had a cage around it to protect from partridges and a post to protect it from campers. It's just got away this spring :)

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The Wal part of the name is from Germanic for "foreign" - same as Wales.

The nuts contain fat, fibre, protein, carbohydrates, minerals and B vitamins. They are also high in linoleic acid.

This one probably won't produce any nuts for another 10 years or so though.
 
Here is my walnut story...

The American Black Walnut has long been a favorite of mine dating back to when their nuts helped pay for my education. Unfortunately, they are also favorites of lumber buyers who highly prize their spectacular wood.

One of the first things I did 42 years ago on my East Texas property was plant about 100 stratified seeds obtained from the State for re-establishment of these valuable trees. Years went by and I completely forgot about them. Then as luck would have it, while clearing out some thick brush along a creek bank recently I looked down and saw the unmistakable beautiful nuts scattered all over the ground and creek bottom. So far, I have found 2 mature walnut trees and suspect there may be more and also believe it's likely that someone downstream has walnuts also from these trees.

One tree has a diameter of about 40 inches and has a big part of the tree spreading out over the creek. It was the one whose nuts lead to the discovery.


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I filled up a couple of buckets of nuts to stratify and start the process all over again.


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The second tree has a more traditional shape, a diameter of 40 + inches, towering size and shows some signs of insect damage. It had very few nuts on the ground but very well could be in an off year as walnuts like pecans have an every other year cycle of heavy followed by light production.


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I can't begin to express my feelings of satisfaction finding these trees and knowing that they will be here long after me and provide seeds for future generations of the great American Walnut.

Since I told that story I have found three more mature black walnut trees.

End of my American walnut tree story...thanks for indulging.
 
Excellent Mr Lark :cool:

They seem a fair bit bigger than our English Walnut.

There's an old rhyme...

"A woman, a dog and a walnut tree.
The more you beat them, the better they be."

Try saying that to a woke idiot today, they'd probably explode 😁
 
So here's my walnut:
This is an English / Carpathian walnut cultivar I planted from a 5 gallon nursery tree. I think it went in the ground 3 seasons ago and has really taken off this year.
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It looks like I am getting some growth out from the graft area so I need to prune those suckers.

From what I have read the American Black Walnuts will pollinate this one no problem. But the black walnuts across the street I was counting on for pollination were removed last fall. I may have to plant another one of these if I can find one.

I have several black walnuts that were planted by squirrels which seem impossible to kill and one large stump that was probably cut 10 years ago which keeps sending out basil shoots. Currently it has two that are in the second year of growth but have to be 150 mm in diameter and easily even with second story windows.
 
because the internet sucks for finding information I now am finding contradictory info on sites that I would expect to be reliable. One says black walnut and carpathian won't cross because the flowering time is not in sync. One site says they'll be fine. One site says you need two different sources of carpathian. And others make no reference.
 
Mr_Yan said:
because the internet sucks for finding information I now am finding contradictory info on sites that I would expect to be reliable. One says black walnut and carpathian won't cross because the flowering time is not in sync. One site says they'll be fine. One site says you need two different sources of carpathian. And others make no reference.
Click to expand...
Yes I see. Same thing for blueberries. See if you can find a source that states the blueberries pollination time overlap. I can't.

Back when I first planted some blueberry bushes or twigs I should say (from Lowes in a 2 pack box) it came with BlueRay and BlueCrop. Now a few years down the road of maturity, they don't even bloom at the same time so cross pollination is not really possible.
 
'English' walnuts are not really English, they originate in Persia, now Iran. Not sure where the Carpathian comes in. English furniture used to be made of walnut, but a series of very hard winters in the 1600's killed off all the trees, Iran is a fair bit warmer. That was just about the time ships were starting to trade seriously with the Americas, and replacing the iron ingots used for ballast on the outward journey with good, heavy trunks of mahogany. That got sold to furniture makers, and the fashion for mahogany furniture took off.
Walnut veneers taken from the area where the trunk and roots join are something else, beautiful.
 
Something burried a walnut where our fruit tunnel is now, not a very good pic of it but the tree is a few years old now.

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I'm leaving it in there till it's a bit bigger, give it a chance to get away from the rabbits/partridges etc.
 
Meadowlark said:
I can't begin to express my feelings of satisfaction finding these trees and knowing that they will be here long after me and provide seeds for future generations of the great American Walnut.
Click to expand...
I feel exactly like that when I look at all my trees. There were none at all here when I bought my bit of land, and now it's all very leafy indeed. The latest ones planted are getting away now, and they are the small leafed limes.
They will get very big indeed after I've departed.
 
The large oak at the bottom of the garden provides a few volunteer seedlings every year which I put in pots and distribute to people, plant into my hedge, or drop into hedgerows while we are walking. As Tetters said I will be 'departed' before they are anything much; it always surprises me when people say 'What's the point, you won't be here.' To me that's exactly the point, leaving something behind that is an improvement, I feel the same way about creating HK beds.
 
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