Pruning advice for English Walnut tree

[NotSoAvidGardener]

These two English Walnut trees are 2 or three years old. Tree number 1 is about 7 or 8 feet tall. The main branches start about 24 inches from the base of the"trunk". Tree number 2 is about 5 feet tall, and the two tallest branches form a vee about 20 inches from the vase. I would appreciate advice on which branches to prune. More specifically, and especially with the larger tree, I'm wondering about how the tree will grow with no obvious leader or main branch at the top of the trunk.

Thanks.

 

[Mr_Yan]

I'll watch this as I also have an English walnut about 7 feet tall.

But, I wouldn't touch the pruning shears for the next few months. Let the worst of winter pass.

 

[NotSoAvidGardener]

I'll watch this as I also have an English walnut about 7 feet tall.

But, I wouldn't touch the pruning shears for the next few months. Let the worst of winter pass.

No, I was planning on waiting until next march or April.

 

[NotSoAvidGardener]

No, I was planning on waiting until next march or April.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

"English walnut" caught my attention. Walnuts are Mediterranean. There are some 350trees that grow wild here, but only about 35 of them are native, and I am pretty sure walnut is not one of them. Walnuts used to be grown here a lot and a lot of early English furniture was made from them, but during the 1600's the weather turned cold and we had some really cold winters which killed them off. This was about the time that we started sending ships to the new world with stuff like iron bars as ballast and they came back using mahogany as ballast for the return journey. That's when we started making furniture from it instead of from walnut. I can only think of one walnut tree I know of, they are quite rare here now.

 

[Meadowlark]

"English walnut" caught my attention. Walnuts are Mediterranean.

The "English Walnut" variety actually started out as the Persian walnut. The Persian walnut picked up the name "English Walnut" over time because English merchants who imported the first trees from Iran and marketed Juglans regia nuts across the globe.

The "Black Walnut" is native to much of central and eastern parts of the U.S. including my property in East Texas. The Black Walnut was part of many native American diets but most of the walnuts we eat today are actually English walnuts.

As to pruning, most want a central leader with branches off that...but it looks like yours have been pruned before kind of like a fruit tree with an open center.

 

[Tetters]

The time to prune any tree is during winter when it is in dormant mode. Those particular trees you have shown Zigs and I both consider unnecessary to prune at all. We would leave them as they are.

The Walnut Tree - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A woman, a dog (or ass), and a walnut tree - the more you beat them, the better they'll be.......

 

[cpp gardener]

It depends on how high you want the nuts to be and if you’re going to be walking underneath it much.
If you want more of a ‘tree’ choose a main trunk (you can stake a branch vertical to make one on the shorter tree) and cut all the other branches to 6” long. They will be temporary ‘helper’ branches that will be removed in a few years. As the tree grows taller choose main (scaffold) branches about 3’ apart and remove all the others. Do the same process for side branches off the scaffolds.
If you don’t want to climb or walk underneath them, choose that central leader and cut it at 7-8’. Choose 3-4 branches spaced as evenly around the trunk and 2’ apart vertically. The lowest branch should be 18” or so from the ground. If there aren’t enough branches and only buds, don’t worry you will have plenty to choose from next year. Remove ALL the other branches completely. The branches you keep are permanent and all other growth from the trunk needs to be removed. As the tree grows it will produce vigorous vertical shoots which will need to be removed during the summer to keep the tree a manageable size.
This training technique works for pretty much all other deciduous fruit trees, too. Check out Dave Wilson Nursery’s website for more info and videos. Some are pretty shocking pruning-wise, but trust them it works.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The time to prune any tree is during winter when it is in dormant mode

Plums you prune in mid Summer; June, July. I can't remember exactly, but it is something to do with avoiding disease.

 

[NotSoAvidGardener]

The "English Walnut" variety actually started out as the Persian walnut. The Persian walnut picked up the name "English Walnut" over time because English merchants who imported the first trees from Iran and marketed Juglans regia nuts across the globe.

The "Black Walnut" is native to much of central and eastern parts of the U.S. including my property in East Texas. The Black Walnut was part of many native American diets but most of the walnuts we eat today are actually English walnuts.

As to pruning, most want a central leader with branches off that...but it looks like yours have been pruned before kind of like a fruit tree with an open center.

Actually, I haven't pruned either. The larger one, with an open center, is the one I'm really wondering about. No clear branch to pick as the "main" trunk.

 

[NotSoAvidGardener]

The time to prune any tree is during winter when it is in dormant mode. Those particular trees you have shown Zigs and I both consider unnecessary to prune at all. We would leave them as they are.

The Walnut Tree - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A woman, a dog (or ass), and a walnut tree - the more you beat them, the better they'll be.......

For English Walnut 1, any concern about the branches breaking off. Note that for some reason, this tree 'decided' to branch at the top of the two-foot or so trunk.

 

[NotSoAvidGardener]

It depends on how high you want the nuts to be and if you’re going to be walking underneath it much.
If you want more of a ‘tree’ choose a main trunk (you can stake a branch vertical to make one on the shorter tree) and cut all the other branches to 6” long. They will be temporary ‘helper’ branches that will be removed in a few years. As the tree grows taller choose main (scaffold) branches about 3’ apart and remove all the others. Do the same process for side branches off the scaffolds.
If you don’t want to climb or walk underneath them, choose that central leader and cut it at 7-8’. Choose 3-4 branches spaced as evenly around the trunk and 2’ apart vertically. The lowest branch should be 18” or so from the ground. If there aren’t enough branches and only buds, don’t worry you will have plenty to choose from next year. Remove ALL the other branches completely. The branches you keep are permanent and all other growth from the trunk needs to be removed. As the tree grows it will produce vigorous vertical shoots which will need to be removed during the summer to keep the tree a manageable size.
This training technique works for pretty much all other deciduous fruit trees, too. Check out Dave Wilson Nursery’s website for more info and videos. Some are pretty shocking pruning-wise, but trust them it works.

English Walnut 1 currently has a trunk that is about two feet tall, and then branches out. I have no idea how to pick a 'main' trunk. The English Walnut 2 is easier. I looked at the Dave Wilson Nursery site, will have to go back again to look for pruning videos that I might find helpful.

 

[cpp gardener]

On tree #1, the uppermost branch on the right would make a good leader. Get a strong stake and pull it up as vertical as you can. Then remove or shorten the other branches as desired. You can use the biggest branch on the left as a scaffold branch and shorten it to keep it secondary to the new leader.

 

[NigelJ]

I'd prune before spring as walnuts can bleed quite badly.
There have been advances in breeding English Walnuts in recent years so they come into fruit at a younger age and form smaller trees.
For UK viewers see https://www.walnuttrees.co.uk/
Black walnut wood is also good for furniture.

 

[Meadowlark]

...
Black walnut wood is also good for furniture.

More than "good"...here it is "prized". So much so that it has been virtually logged out of East Texas. I've been on a 40 plus year effort to reestablish it on my property.