Planting Black Walnut Seedlings

[Victor Van Meter]

With the recent Black Walnut post and the value of the timber I thought I would buy 25 seedlings and get them in the ground for the kids/grandkids. I plan to tube them. Anything else I should be doing to insure their survival and growth? Thanks.

VV

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Keeping them caged or tubed should prevent deer browsing and rubbing. Planting location is pretty important since the field grown walnuts start out with a lot of branches that create knots in the wood. The best walnut trees I've ever seen were woods grown trees that grew tall and straight fighting for sunlight. Even better are the trees growing in the bottom of a wooded valley.

You can prune off some branches every year to get the desired straight and knot free trunk. Each clear and straight 8' log you can get will increase the tree value.

 

[Teeder]

You can plant them close together too. It will help down the road.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

You can plant them close together too. It will help down the road.

How close would you recommend?

 

[Victor Van Meter]

And would you recommend weed mats or mulch around them?

Thanks for the info.

 

[Teeder]

How close would you recommend?

Honestly, I haven't planted specifically for timber. My oak "deer plots" are roughly 20-24 feet apart. I'd cut that in half for timber.

 

[b116757]

Probably 8x8 grid for timber production you will want a deep sight index location also.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Managing black walnut forests

Black walnut overview for Minnesota woodland owners and managers. Covers black walnut uses, growing conditions, regeneration, treatments, pests and more.

extension.umn.edu

This says 10 x 10 for wood production.

We actually started doing this as well. You may want to consider scaling up a little bit if you have the space. The 30 to 40 years it's going to take to get harvestable timber will make the inputs needed along the way more worthwhile. There are a number of extension publications out there that give tips on growing a black walnut orchard.

 

[b116757]

That 10x10 would likely be better for thinning operations

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Probably 8x8 grid for timber production you will want a deep sight index location also.

Sorry for the ignorance, but what is a "deep sight index location"?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I think the timeline to harvest will be well over 50 years. In 1999 I planted some walnuts on excellent soil in SE MN and they are now around 9" diameter. I've heard they can average 1/2" growth per year eventually, so if we were shooting for 27" diameter, that would take around 36 more years.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I think the timeline to harvest will be well over 50 years. In 1999 I planted some walnuts on excellent soil in SE MN and they are now around 9" diameter. I've heard they can average 1/2" growth per year eventually, so if we were shooting for 27" diameter, that would take around 36 more years.

Thanks for the context. I'm sure that is much closer to the average than what some say online.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Thanks for the context. I'm sure that is much closer to the average than what some say online.

I've seen a couple logging crews out down here in the past 2 weeks and they were cutting walnuts that were definitely under 27". I'd guess many were in the 18-20" diameter range at most. I was pretty surprised to see them cutting these trees since they didn't look mature to me.

It is also worth noting that you can grow a lot of walnut trees on only an acre or two of land. The two logging jobs I drive by every day are probably only 1-2 acres each and they have a pretty good sized pile of walnut trees on the ground.

 

[b116757]

Deap site index is deap topsoil before hitting bedrock many oaks, pecans and walnuts need about 8’ of soil before you get into rock to really grow well. There are several other tree species that need deep soil to really show their potential. I’ve got quite a bit of variance in my soil depth at the home place and the one farm my walnuts along the creeks on both places where my soil is deep are much healthier larger trees than where they happen to have taken root in shallow soil areas those trees simply are stunted very poor slow growing trees. I have a stand of walnut on a shallow site index area that practically have put on no growth in the past 22 years despite being crown released twice in that time. Trees not at all very far from them but down the hill a bit where the soil is deeper are much taller larger diameter trees that respond well to crown release by adding substantial diameter gains.

 

[Teeder]

"in shallow soil areas those trees simply are stunted very poor slow growing trees"

Those trees will have rhe nicest grain if you can wait a couple hundred years.

 

[Angus 1895]

I read a California guide to English walnut growth and they recommended fertilizer.

They also stated legumes near trees helped.

 

[b116757]

This one is wider than that axe handle my boy is holding at the base. That photo doesn’t do its size justice.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

That's a big walnut tree. Do you have a lot of trees that size?

 

[b116757]

There are several very large ones on that farm that one maybe the largest. Likely about 40 that are large enough to be marketable now if I was inclined to log them. That one stands next too a second nearly as large walnut that one of my forest roads passes between them both every time I pass thru there I think of Lord of the Rings.