Growing a walnut tree is an investment. It’s decades before it pays dividends. And you’re buying an asset that won’t pay back for several years. The reason most people grow them is for the timber or shade or nuts, and end up giving up after a few years. There just doesn’t seem like anything happening.
But knowing the timeline makes all the difference, so you don’t cut down a perfectly good tree because you got frustrated. A walnut tree are an endurance athlete that grows deep roots before it adds any size or fruit. Energy moves underground for the first few years, which isn’t linear growth. In fact, the first year of a seedling can be just a foot or two. It’s all about getting its taproot down several feet. To the eye, this effort appears stagnant, but it is really aggressive prep work. It need that anchor before it supports the big canopy that develops later.
Why You Must Be Patient With Walnut Trees
Older trees does not want to move their roots and start over in a new place. First of all: You must choose the right species to be successful. Black walnut (for its toughness) may be an option if you have a cooler climate, and butternut (whose nutmeat is prized for eating) are another. Commercial orchards uses grafted english walnuts because they come into bearing early and are quicker growing, too. This chart divides those characteristics out visually, and shows that although some varieties like the black walnuts can reach a hundred feet tall, they’re very narrow trees. Others will be wide and have thinner-shelled nuts… So select carefully based off the result you want and where you plant.
The other factor to consider is soil quality. The ideal soil for walnuts are well-drained deep loam. No spongy, heavy clay that makes their root zone soggy (walnuts don’t like wet feet). Composting the planting hole does help; and so does amending the area around it. Roots want room to spread and they’ll do so only as far as the amendment extends. Most homeowners grow them the wrong way, digging a little spot of good soil in what is otherwise hostile territory, then stopping the roots at that boundary.
Speed is also governed by watering practices. A young tree must be kept well watered as it tries to get its footing. An established tree require occasional deep watering. Do not use daily spritzes, as they keep the roots near the surface where they are liable to dry out in the hot weather. In general, root systems of things with deep taproots like these, including most deep-rooted perennials, do best if watered deeply and infrequently, so their roots goes deeper. Wet soil doesn’t mean happy plant. Soggy means no more roots for walnuts. It is such a simple rule; why do we all forget about it?
Remember that walnuts release the chemical juglone into their soil, which is a naturaly weed poison used to keep other plants out of their space. Good news for the tree; bad news for your azaleas or tomatoes. Plan accordingly. Anything vulnerable to this toxin should not be planted inside the drip line. This is a formula for a mysterious plant going down. Tougher things like corn and grapes can takes it. If you’d like to create a garden underneath the tree, those would of been some good companion plants.
The trick is patience. In year one, there’s not much of an increase in height, but boy does it pay off once the tree reaches twenty feet and begins adding several inches a year. Decades (not seasons) is the payoff. A mature black walnut will yield timber that’s worth thousands of dollars; and that’s if it isn’t already producing hundreds of pounds of nuts each year. And that’s what makes them special: their longevity.
You’re not planting for yourself… You’re planting for your heirs. Remember the quiet years when nothing seem to be happening up top, until finally you crack open those nuts or sit beneath its shade.