Juglans Nigra (Black Walnut) 1

[Orion_metalhead]

Found this little fella next to the house so I threw a spade under it and pryed it loose. Will see what becomes of it. It was going bye bye either way so no big deal if it dies but I love the species. Really cool that it still had the nut attached!.



Planted it in a small pot full of 8822. Plenty of room to grow. Will let it be for rest of season to get healthy and strong. Keeping it in the shade with my other trees for now.

 

[Ali Raza]

Like to see the seasonal update of this walnut plant.

 

[0soyoung]

I similarly found some walnuts planted in my yard by the local squirrels a few years ago. I potted them similarly to what you've done @Orion_metalhead. The following spring (2020 in your case), the nut had fallen off. I shortened the tap root and put it in a 1.5-inch pot (maybe I exaggerate and it was 2 inches). As soon as I could see a low bud, I chopped the trunk to just above it. It was lots of fun, but after a couple of seasons, the novelty of 6 inch compound leaves on a 3-inch tall trunk wore off. Even cutting the compound leaf back to one or two leaflets didn't work very well. These are pretty much the same problems that I've read that others have had with trying to make more conventional sized bonsai of walnuts.

Sorry. I'm not meaning to be Donnie Downer about this. I really did have a good time with mine for about 3 years. I'm just suggesting that you press your horticultural limits and think way outside the box. To conventional thinking these are not good material. Learn everything you can from it. See what you can do with it. Have fun with it. That's all that matters (aside from my congratulations to you for taking it on ).

 

[Forsoothe!]

I did the same butting my head against the wall with a Crimson Queen Maple. The leaf would not reduce. You could reduce the number of leaves, but they always came back too big to be useful. It took years to kill it. I have come to the conclusion that the natural size of the internodes is reflected in the natural size of the leaves. Big leaf woody plants have long internodes so that the leaves don't shade each other. You can cut the leaves off to increase ramification and leaf size, but the replacement will have a long internode, anyway, and the reduction in leaf size is not worth the effort.

 

[rockm]

unless there is a nearby Walnut tree with identifiable nuts, I'd question whether this is a walnut. Hickory trees are in the same family, produce compound leaves and nuts like the one attached to this seedling. They are also more common than walnut --with eight or nine different species-shagbark, pignut, mockernut, bitternut. etc.

Anyway, neither Walnut or hickory are great bonsai material, too lanky, compound leaves that don't reduce--the "leaf" is the entire group of leaflets on a stem--up to 15. None ramifies well enough for bonsai.

 

[Silentrunning]

Here is a walnut tree that I cut the top 1/3 of the trunk off 2 years ago. I wanted to see if it would back bud. As you can see, not one leaf on the lower part of the trunk. I will plant it in the yard next year and just let it grow. It definitely doesn’t want to be a bonsai.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

I similarly found some walnuts planted in my yard by the local squirrels a few years ago. I potted them similarly to what you've done @Orion_metalhead. The following spring (2020 in your case), the nut had fallen off. I shortened the tap root and put it in a 1.5-inch pot (maybe I exaggerate and it was 2 inches). As soon as I could see a low bud, I chopped the trunk to just above it. It was lots of fun, but after a couple of seasons, the novelty of 6 inch compound leaves on a 3-inch tall trunk wore off. Even cutting the compound leaf back to one or two leaflets didn't work very well. These are pretty much the same problems that I've read that others have had with trying to make more conventional sized bonsai of walnuts.

Sorry. I'm not meaning to be Donnie Downer about this. I really did have a good time with mine for about 3 years. I'm just suggesting that you press your horticultural limits and think way outside the box. To conventional thinking these are not good material. Learn everything you can from it. See what you can do with it. Have fun with it. That's all that matters (aside from my congratulations to you for taking it on ).

Yeah. I know they are not a good species, but Im curious to see what I can do with it. Plan is to get it healthy right now. Plan is no fertilizer, lower water schedule, and lots of sun. Going to see if limiting water and ferts will cause shorter internodes and smaller leaves. Also going to trim each set of compound leaves to 4 to reduce photosynthesis and cut back vigor. Think best potential style is literati for time being due to long trunk with no branches. If nothing works, tree gets planted in the yard in PA where my wife wont complain about the tennis balls.

unless there is a nearby Walnut tree with identifiable nuts, I'd question whether this is a walnut. Hickory trees are in the same family, produce compound leaves and nuts like the one attached to this seedling. They are also more common than walnut --with eight or nine different species-shagbark, pignut, mockernut, bitternut. etc.

Anyway, neither Walnut or hickory are great bonsai material, too lanky, compound leaves that don't reduce--the "leaf" is the entire group of leaflets on a stem--up to 15. None ramifies well enough for bonsai.

Have three large walnut trees on neighbors property. They drop walnuts all august and september. My wife has a picture of a squirrel carrying a walnut and trying to bury it in her citronella plant on the porch. I have shagbark, shellbark, and bitternut hickory trees in my yard in PA. The nuts are far smaller and not rounded like the walnuts. Its a walnut for sure. Also rubbed one of the leaves and it has the identifiable black walnut smell.

Here is a walnut tree that I cut the top 1/3 of the trunk off 2 years ago. I wanted to see if it would back bud. As you can see, not one leaf on the lower part of the trunk. I will plant it in the yard next year and just let it grow. It definitely doesn’t want to be a bonsai.View attachment 244501

Did you ever try air layering just below the spot where the leaves formed? Did you ever try wiring the trunk into a less straight shape? When would be a good time to do that do you think?

 

[Paulpash]

OT somewhat but interesting is that Black Walnut produces a substance called Juglone in the leaves which washes down onto smaller plants below. In some cases it can cause certain ornamentals Inc Mugo pine to slow down growth,leaves to turn yellow and in extreme cases death over multiple seasons. This might be interesting to @0soyoung @Vance Wood et al.

 

[AlainK]

Black Walnut produces a substance called Juglone

Yes, here it's almost a kind of ancestral saying : never have a nap under a walnut tree, everyone will tell you that.

As for bonsai : not worth the trouble in my opinion...

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Yes, here it's almost a kind of ancestral saying : never have a nap under a walnut tree, everyone will tell you that.

As for bonsai : not worth the trouble in my opinion...

Here it's exactly the opposite. Walnut trees repel some insects and people believe mosquitos are repelled as well.
I'm trying one for bonsai as well.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Maybe people taste bad to mosquitoes if they sleep under Walnut trees?

 

[plant_dr]

The edges of leaves look too serrated to be walnut.

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Its a sapling so Im sure the mature leaves will look more "walnutty". I dont have any other species in the local area that it would be. It also smells like black walnut.

 

[0soyoung]

Well, maybe it is just a really dark brown nut.

 

[AlainK]

The edges of leaves look too serrated to be walnut.

I second that, and after a second look at the first tree posted, I'm not sure at all it's got compound leaves. Looks closer to an ulmacea (elm, zelkova, celtis... of some kind) in my opinion.

 

[AlainK]

EDIT: double post: slow connection => multiple clicks

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Hasnt done much. I repotted last year and cut the tap root. Hoping for a better year in 2023. They dont grow roots easily it seems. It has thickened ever so slightly but I think it needs to be left a year or two after a repot to gain strength. Will see.

 

[jandslegate]

This is a walnut I collected. This was from this spring. Last year when I collected it as a seedling I planted it in straight potting mix in a narrow and deep pot/box I built with leftover lumber from some other yard projects. The thickest part of the trunk before the taper was all below the soil line. It would have been an amazing trunk thickening hack of not for the rest of the species flaws. Despite those downsides, I can tell you it took a major root pruning, a significant chop and a whole season in that tiny pot with no problems.

Either way it might be something to consider for having fun with these. If it's at all like my yard, if the squirrels left you one there's likely to be more in the future. Keep them a safe distance from trees you value, just to be safe!

 

[Orion_metalhead]

Still alive. Got a little first flush. Needs to get properly repotted. Its got healthy buds on the trunk and after trying some leaf reduction am getting some new extensions. Idk. Still havent honed in on best care. I want to chop down to lowest bud eventually.

 

[RKatzin]

Very interesting indeed. I have eighteen Black Walnut trees in pots that are getting on to some age now. Oh, ten to fifteen years I been dragging these from place to place. They're just starting to look like trees and not so much saplings. Some have grown very nice burls at the base and most have some trunk movement and interesting trunk features, jin, shari and uros. I've done a little tampering and found the foliage does reduce somewhat with ramifications, although that is slow to develop.
I was going to put these together as a forest planting this spring, but, I could say I wanted to let it develop a little more, but truth is I just didn't get a round toit. Hopefully it will get done this coming spring.