Collins Kids Black Walnut Plantation

[George Collins]

I came home from work yesterday and was milling about in the forest garden and generally tidying up about the place in anticipation of a large rain storm we were forecasted to receive during the night. While doing so, I thought to check on the black walnuts that have been stratifying in pots on the north side of my house. Two have sprouted. That was much quicker than anticipated so now much/most of my attention must shift towards getting them into the ground.

Extensive reading about the growing of walnuts led me to the understanding that the nuts had to be cold stratified for 3 to 4 months before the seeds will break dormancy. Cold stratification is defined as reaching a temperature that averages ~ 40 degrees. A 30-day month is ~ 2000 hours. We have had so few cold days this year that I started re-potting the walnuts into several layers placed in relatively tiny buckets and placing them in the refrigerator thinking that there was no possible way that we were going to receive sufficient chill hours for them to break dormancy outdoors. I ran out of room in the fridge so ~ half were left outside in pots.

However, even though the internal temperature of the pots left outside never went below 60 degrees (per the trusty ol' Pampered Chef digital thermometer) the seeds are germinating.

Now comes the fun part: puttin'em in the ground as quickly as possible.

Assuming those two aren't the only two that have or will germinate, the sprint is on.

[pa_friendly_guy]

That is Great news George. I am glad that the walnuts are sprouting and growing for you. Just goes to show that the seeds want to grow and they are going to do it, even through adversity. Have you set the ones from the Ref outdoors yet? I am betting that they will sprout for you now even though the 3 month wait is not yet quite over. How many seeds did you plant in pots? Just wondered how big your walnut grove was going to be when you are finished. I wouldn't worry about being in a hurry just yet, you have time. The seedings won't get pot bound for awhile. It will not hurt them if you have to wait a bit. I know you want to get them in the ground quickly, but don't put any undo preasure on yourself. They want to grow, and they will do it when ever you get them in, good luck with your prject.

[Lollykoko]

Best of luck on getting those trees in the ground, George. I don't know how much rush there is in transferring from a pot to soil, though I imagine black walnuts have a good tap root. Here is some info that you may or may not have seen before. From Oikios Tree Crops . com http://www.oikostreecrops.com/store/pro ... istory=cat

Over the last couple of years I have taken walnuts from my grove (or whatever you call 10-ish acres), walking down by the ditch where mowing doesn't happen, dropping them on the ground and step on them slightly. Hopefully, before I get around to mowing that area I will have some sprouts big enough to see. That area is in CRP until fall of 2014, unless I renew it.

Last year I was talking with the neighbor who does small engine repair, down at his place. While we walked across the area, he noticed a walnut seedling in a flower bed. He grabbed the stem and pulled it from the soft soil and gave it to me with a chuckle saying I needed that more than he did. Well, I took it back to the farm and stuck it in a pot, then later planted it in the verge between my town house sidewalk and the street and covered it with hay for the winter. It looked good a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping that it catches hold here. This spring I'll look for another small tree that I can move to the urban setting. I have 100 feet of frontage, so there is room for two.

[pa_friendly_guy]

That is a great idea Lolly, planting trees in town. Most towns and urbin areas lack green space. Adding trees not only adds that much needed green space and cooling shade to the urbin landscape , it also helps to clean the air and increases property values as well. Your choice of planting a walnut tree also has the advantage of providing food, either for you or the squirels. Some people might be upset with your choice of trees because they feel that a walnut tree is a " Dirty " tree. It makes it harder to mow etc. I personally feel that it is a Great tree to plant in town. Of couse my thoughts are different than many urbin dwellers, LOL. I was on a committee { and quite frankly I was the driving force ] that started planting trees on the main Street of our little town. I was shocked at all of the negative comments I got from the program. Since I have been off the committee many of the trees have been cut down. People complained about the leaves. They felt that the trees raised the sidewalks. They felt that it would cause problems with their water and sewer lines. They felt you might hit them with your car doors. I felt they provided much needed shade, added much needed greenery and improved air quality, of course I don't live in town and so I don't get a vote, lol. The urbin tree issue is a complex one. There are strong opinions on both sides. I applaud your efforts and I really wish that more people thought like you do about planting trees in town.

[Lollykoko]

I agree that more trees are needed in urban areas. Our downtown area was well paved when I moved here more than 20 years ago. There have been decorative trees planted in various locations during the last decade, but not nearly enough to cool the city center.

The block I live on was new 115 years ago. Several of the trees that used to shade the street have been lost to storm damage during the years I've lived here. In fact, that is why I have room for at least two trees out front. Last June the huge (well over 100 feet) soft maple next door lost a major upright limb. It took out a section of my fence and two small trees. I asked the city about putting in fruit-bearing trees in the space and was told "Anything but Damson Pear." I'm taking them at their word.

[eeldip]

my neighbor has some nice good looking black walnuts. their tree canopy doesn't even reach over my property-- but i pull out about 100 seedlings every year. i would never worry about them reproducing. the taproot seems to grow about as quickly as above ground growth. so i think the pot stage needs to be SHORT.

i lean towards them being not great urban trees. not enough property owners cut down unwanted saplings. so you get a lot of trees growing on foundation walls etc. they can cause a lot of damage.

i think the best urban trees are slow growing, low mess types. persian ironwood, tupelo, evergreen oaks, shagbark maples, to name a few.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I can agree with you eeldip that low mantanance low mess trees are best for in town use because most people in town will not do the work needed to maintain many types of trees. They are not into " Nature " and really do not want to spend much more time than the 20 min that it takes them to cut their postage stamp yard. Picking up sticks, raking leaves, having to pick up walnuts befor mowing would all be considered way too much work by many city folks. Many wonderful shade trees are not used in towns because of the amount of leaves they produce, or their size, or their root structure. With over head wires, sidewalks, sewer, water and gas lines all below the ground and all with in limited space for growing make tree selection important, and some times quite difficult. Around here many towns have selected a Bradford Pear Hybred as their tree of choice. It grows 25 to 30 ft tall, has small leaves that tend to blow away in the fall, it is resistant to road salt, it does not have a strong root structure and it has beautiful white flowers in the spring and it does not produce fruit. It has been way over planted around here at this point though and its wood is very brittle so it gets damaged by wind or large trucks easily. There is not one " Best " tree for urdan applications, variety is a key to any eco system. Let the walnuts grow with the oaks and the maples and the rest. We will all be better off with them growing in our communitees. It just takes some commitment and a little bit of work. It can work.

[George Collins]

[Lollykoko]

George, I'm not sure how long it takes for "wild" trees to take off. That is why I've been doing my "drop and step" routine in areas that I know won't be mowed for a couple more years. Walking through the winter thatch (we haven't had much snow this year) I'm seeing stems growing that certainly aren't grass.

At the farm, white-tail deer will make short shrift of unprotected walnut trees. Standard practice is to plant quick growing pines between the nut trees. I guess you are supposed to take the pines out once the walnuts are large enough to survive a little nibbling. That didn't happen at my place; the removal of pines, I mean. Now I have white pine and walnuts in a nice, neat grid and they are all in the 60+ foot range. Many of the pine will be removed this year for various building projects and to make room for some forest gardening. Not having been a lumberjack myself, I'm trusting my brother-in-law and Adoptason to handle the details without wiping out the nut trees. Hopefully I will learn a new skill in the process.

So your plan is to plant one acre of walnut trees for each of your children, is it? Do they get the acre later to build a homestead? Are you looking at the trees as a cash crop for the next 50 years? Do you have a market for nuts / shells / hulls?

[George Collins]