Black walnut seedling

[Heavy_Set]

Found this interesting little guy in the ditch in front of the house
I have a fondness for walnut trees and hope i can successfully implement some bonsai techniques on it.
.

 

[sorce]

Turtle.

Sorce

 

[rockm]

Good luck. Very difficult material, compound leaves, very little ramification, STRONG grower--good and bad thing. Many have tried...haven't seen a good one in 25 years of growing bonsai. A trunk this small will make it more difficult

 

[Cypress187]

Haha, ur signature. "Carving hollows in twigs since '16"

 

[Waltron]

the nut would be bigger than the trunk, something to consider. not my nut, a black walnut.

 

[Grego83]

Do you still have this little guy? I am curious how your experience with black walnut as a bonsai went ...

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Most of my neighbors yards have huge black walnut trees and every year they rain down hell into my backyard and my trees. The squirrels bury them in my pots. My contempt for walnuts has no end. Wondering if there’s some legal recourse I can take to get them cut down ???.

 

[Mike Hennigan]

I like the trees. Just don’t want them near my backyard. To be clear.

 

[JimmyBeefshank]

I would do it. But I would only do it if I were you. If I were still me? No way.
Black Walnut trees are one of my biggest adversaries as a gardener. The frustration trifecta of Deer, shade and black walnut trees is no joke. Black walnut trees release high concentrations of a chemical called juglone which many other plants find toxic. This is part of the survival strategy of this species, an attempt to create more plentiful and favorable conditions for itself and other black walnuts by poisoning the competition. However even if you cut down all your walnut trees and dig every last root out of the ground it will be ten years before the juglone that tree produced disipates. Never never ever ever put black walnut in your compost pile, doing so will taint the entire pile and almost everything you use it on will suffer, and likely die.
For those reasons and the ones others have mentioned I won't touch the species. Compound leaves are a challenge and super long internodes make great saw logs but not so great bonsai.

 

[plant_dr]

I would do it. But I would only do it if I were you. If I were still me? No way.
Black Walnut trees are one of my biggest adversaries as a gardener. The frustration trifecta of Deer, shade and black walnut trees is no joke. Black walnut trees release high concentrations of a chemical called juglone which many other plants find toxic. This is part of the survival strategy of this species, an attempt to create more plentiful and favorable conditions for itself and other black walnuts by poisoning the competition. However even if you cut down all your walnut trees and dig every last root out of the ground it will be ten years before the juglone that tree produced disipates. Never never ever ever put black walnut in your compost pile, doing so will taint the entire pile and almost everything you use it on will suffer, and likely die.
For those reasons and the ones others have mentioned I won't touch the species. Compound leaves are a challenge and super long internodes make great saw logs but not so great bonsai.

My neighbor has black walnut trees in their yard. Several years ago (before I learned the evilness of black walnut)I asked if I could put his leaves in my compost, which I subsequently added to my garden. Ever since then my garden has just been crappy, which is pretty frustrating for a "Plant doctor"! Any tips on how to overcome the juglone woes?

 

[JimmyBeefshank]

Any tips on how to overcome the juglone woes?

There are a few strategies that I employ, but none of them are particularly attractive. Excavation and replacement of the contaminated soil is best though obviously most expensive and intensive.
I frequently used plastic sheeting as a barrier between native contaminated soil and new fill. Even soil in containers sitting ON TOP of native contaminated soil. Juglone will migrate in from surrounding soil with high concentrations eventually but a bigger threat is that if the roots of a new plant are allowed to find their way into contaminated soil the plant will suffer maybe die.
The last strategy involves a lot of time, patience and sticking with plant varieties that are tolerant of juglone in the meantime.

 

[plant_dr]

The OP hasn't been seen since 2016, I doubt we'll get an update. But for anyone crious, Nigel Saunders has a couple video on YouTube about collecting them. I don't know if he has updates of the trees though. The vidoes are a few years old.

 

[Grego83]

The OP hasn't been seen since 2016, I doubt we'll get an update.

Ahh good call, I was wondering if the OP had found something that perhaps had worked for him to increase ramification...from what I hear and read above, it's REAL tough.

Nigel Saunders has a couple video on YouTube about collecting them. I don't know if he has updates of the trees though. The vidoes are a few years old.

Thanks! I've watched this one too. I'm just going to leave it be and see where it's at next year.

 

[robert gardner]

just vworking on two c.bk. trees.
wen I potted them the first ting was to cut the tap root back. It didn't seem to bother the tree
both g4rowing real nice. just like to try plants that other people hate.

 

[TN_Jim]

jug land - little tree blues