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TO GROW BLACK WALNUTS FROM SEED, PLANT FRESH NUTS
A couple of years ago my brother-in-law and I spent several hours planting 500 dried black walnut seeds in a former pasture. The land is adjacent to 300 acres of pheasant habitat that we hunt and the walnut planting exercise was part of a 5,000-tree planting project we undertook as a way of paying back another brother-in-law who permits us to hunt at this pheasant mecca.
Not one of the nuts germinated. Now, two years later, I know why.
Black walnuts should be planted green in the fall before they dry out. I didn't know that at the time and the information would have saved a lot of spadework and bending over as we dropped nuts into the holes.
Even if I had planted green walnuts, not all of them would have turned into black walnut trees. A forester in southeastern Minnesota once said, "If you want to plant walnuts, take two bushels of nuts into the forest -- one for the squirrels to bury and eat later, and one bushel for them to bury, forget about, and let grow."
Nuts generally fall from trees in September and October. If you want to start your own walnut forest or woodlot by planting new-crop nuts, the University of Minnesota suggests collecting nuts from trees with good stem form (for timber production) or large nuts with a high percentage of kernel (for nut production).
Nuts can be planted with husks, but are easier to handle and sort for viability if husks are removed. Collect nuts as soon as they fall and immediately remove husks using one of these methods:
1. Place nuts in a bucket of water to soften and then peel the husks by hand.
2. Place nuts in a hand-operated corn sheller.
3. Place nuts in a small cement mixer along with gravel, cover with water, and rotate for 20 to 30 minutes.
Wear clothing and gloves for protection from stain in the husks. After removing husks, rinse nuts in water. Discard nuts that float; nuts that sink have full kernels and are more likely to germinate.
Walnut seeds require stratification (cold treatment) before they will germinate. Small quantities of nuts can be stratified in a plastic bag in a refrigerator at 34 to 41° F for 90 to 120 days. To stratify large numbers of walnuts for spring planting, dig a pit, spread out the nuts, and cover them with 1 to 2 feet of sand, leaves, or mulch. Cover the pit with screening to keep out rodents.
When the ground thaws in spring, dig up the nuts and plant 1 to 2 inches deep in the prepared site. Plant two nuts at each planting spot. About half the nuts will germinate in four to five weeks. Additional nuts may germinate the following year. Remove excess seedlings to allow adequate growing space.
If you want to avoid the over-wintering stratification procedure, ripe black walnuts will germinate readily from seeds planted into moist soil as soon as they ripen and fall from the tree, according to Jack Smith, Carver/Scott Master Gardener. "It is not necessary to remove the green outer husk, just kind of step down on it so it breaks open a bit," she says. "Don't let the nuts dry out prior to planting, and remember to keep the planting area moist into fall. The nuts will germinate the following spring."
She adds this warning: don't touch the nuts or husks with bare hands because the brown stain doesn't wash out; it simply has to wear off with time.
Based on phone calls I receive each year, many people seem to be aware of the toxic chemical (juglone) found in the tree's roots, leaves, trunk, and nut husks that can inhibit the growth of various plants. The University of Minnesota lists the following plants that should not be grown where walnut roots are present: tomatoes, potatoes, alfalfa, blackberry, domestic grape, lilac, hydrangea, chrysanthemum, paper birch, red pine, Scotch pine, hackberry, basswood and apple. Juglone can remain in the soil long after a walnut tree has been removed.
If you want to grow walnuts because you love eating them, you may be better off buying your supply of fresh nuts from a neighbor or from the farmers market. You could get plenty hungry waiting for your first crop. Walnut trees begin producing nuts when they are about 10 years old, but the best nut production begins when trees are 30 years old. Good nut crops occur in about two out of five years.
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PUTTING DOWN ROOTS:
A Delightful Blend of
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