Walnut - planting and growing. How to plant a walnut - invaluable tips for good results When to plant a walnut in the fall

Perhaps you are wondering how to grow Walnut walnut. A walnut tree can live up to 300 years, and all this time it does not require any special care. It produces extremely useful fruits that are not only tasty, but also have a healing effect, including walnut wood, its foliage and other parts of the plant.

The root system is very powerful. It penetrates deep into the ground. The tree is light and moisture-loving. Prefers fertile soil, where they are located nearby ground water.

How to prepare seeds for planting?

Planting a walnut at home is easy. The main thing is to choose the right fruits, that is, the nuts themselves. It is reproduction through such seeds that is the main method.

The germination of the nut is carried out only after a year. In order for the process to be positive, it is necessary to choose fruits that have a thin shell, as well as good taste qualities. It is necessary to use only whole nuts on which there are no flaws. They can be collected both from branches and from the ground when they have already fallen from the tree.

The shell should have a good appearance. It should not have segments with damage, dots, spots and other defects. You can not use the fruits that are bought in the store, as they may be either spoiled, or unsuitable, or old in order to germinate them.

It is recommended to remove the nut from the fruit. The shell is called the pericarp. It can not be removed, but in this case the germination process will be significantly slowed down. During cleaning, care must be taken that the inner skin is not damaged. Only the outer part needs to be removed. It is recommended to use rubber gloves or other protective equipment for hands, as in contact with the juice of the shell skin are starting to get dark.

When the nut is already completely cleaned, it is supposed to be lowered into a container of water. Fruits that have gradually fallen to the bottom of the container are suitable for planting, as the kernels in them remain intact.

Now you need to dry the seed. To do this, it is supposed to be laid out in one layer in a sunny place. After a couple of days, the fruits are recommended to be removed to a place under a canopy so that they dry out. Do not keep nuts that are selected for sprouting near heating appliances. If the seed is planned to be planted in the fall, then there is no need to dry it.

Planting seeds

You need to figure out when to plant a walnut. This can be done both in autumn and spring. In the first case, it is required to plant the seeds immediately in the place that will be permanent for the tree, since then it will not be possible to transplant it without damaging the root system.

The hole should be about 1 m deep and about 1 m in diameter. This is required to provide the necessary amount of nutrient compounds for the tree in the future. Nuts are supposed to be deepened by about 20 cm. You need to cover the seed with a mixture that includes humus and soil. It is necessary to lay the seeds so that the seam is located at the top. There are 3 nuts per hole, which are placed at a distance of 20 cm from each other. They must be laid out in the form of a triangle.

Then you need to sprinkle the hole and compact the soil. Of those seeds that have sprouted in the hole, choose only the strongest and best developed. Watering is supposed to be between May and July. On the square meter 4 buckets of water are required. If the weather is rainy, then watering is not carried out. When summer comes to an end, then moisturizing should be stopped altogether.

If you want to grow a walnut in the spring, then it is best to carry out the planting process in May. This is especially true for many regions in Russia, where winters are very cold. If a walnut is planted in such areas in autumn, then there is a chance that the seed will freeze and not germinate. In the spring, a nut is supposed to be planted in May. Until this time, the seed should be kept in a cool place for stratification for 3-4 months. When planting nuts, the temperature should be approximately + 4 ... + 7ºС.

It is required to place the fruits in wet sand. Before this, the nuts must be held for some time in a container of water (the temperature should be at room temperature). Then they need to be deepened by 8 cm into the ground. After about 10 days, the first shoots will appear. By autumn, they will already grow by 15 cm. First, the shoots stretch upward, and only then they begin to gradually compact. If watered abundantly, then the length of the sprout will be longer, but at the same time it will be harder for him to endure winter.

It is necessary to decide where the walnut grows well. Be sure to choose the right place for planting so that the tree is comfortable. It prefers places with good lighting. The territory should be spacious, as the tree needs space for a spreading crown. Then the fruits themselves will ripen on all branches. A minimum of 5 m must be left before the next tree, as root system will be very powerful. You can not grow a walnut near the house or other buildings, as it will damage the foundation. If the soil is poor in content useful substances, then it needs to be fertilized. It is best to plant a tree on the southwest or south side, away from the building.

tree care

All work in the garden begins in the spring. If in the second half of March the temperature is not less than 4ºС, then it is recommended to trim the walnut for sanitary purposes, as well as to form a crown. If at this time, due to bad weather, pruning is still not possible, then it is recommended to carry out this procedure at a later date, but in any case before the sap flow begins.

In spring, the tree needs a lot of moisture. If there was little snow in winter, and spring was not rainy, then additional watering is required. In addition, it is necessary at this time to carry out prevention against various diseases and pests in order to grow a walnut tree strong and healthy. It is recommended to use a solution blue vitriol(3%). In addition, it is additionally necessary to whitewash the trunk with lime. In May, you need top dressing. At this time, it is recommended to ammonium nitrate. big tree relies on about 6 kg of this substance per year, this rule applies to those trees that are already more than 3 years old. Those fertilizers that are laid when planting a seedling are enough for this time.

If the summer is dry and hot, then it is necessary to water the tree periodically. In the period from May to July, it is supposed to carry out watering 2 times a month. After moistening, it is not worth loosening the soil, since this particular plant does not like this procedure. But the weeds must be removed so that they do not interfere with the tree. AT summer time walnuts can suffer from insect pests or fungal diseases, so it is very important to periodically inspect the plant so as not to miss the onset of the disease. As soon as the first symptoms appear, it is necessary to use preparations from the group of fungicides or insecticides.

In the last week of July, it is recommended to pinch those shoots whose growth needs to be accelerated. They must have time to form before the cold snap begins, otherwise winter time will die from frost. In addition, at this time it is supposed to carry out top dressing using fertilizers that contain potassium and phosphorus. In some varieties, the fruits ripen already at the end of summer. You need to be ready to harvest.

As for autumn, for almost all varieties of walnuts, this is the time to collect fruits. Usually it starts at the end of August and ends around the end of November. After harvesting, you need to put the garden in order. First, the tree is pruned for sanitary purposes, then it is necessary to collect all the foliage that has fallen, and shoots. Additionally, it is required to process the tree from pests that could settle in its bark for the winter. In addition, agents against pathogenic bacteria are used.

At the same time, the preparation of the plant for wintering is necessarily carried out. Walnut is considered a plant that loves warmth. Some varieties are able to grow only in places where there is no cold in winter. But there are also varieties of trees that can withstand frosts down to -30ºС. An adult tree can overwinter without additional shelter, but young plants that are no more than a year old need to be insulated. To do this, it is necessary to use burlap. In addition, mulch with manure helps.

Conclusion

If now we understand how to plant a walnut, it's time to start ...

Many summer gardeners want to grow walnuts on their plots, in connection with this they have questions: “How and when is it better to plant these trees?”, “What kind of care do they need?”. Some experts believe that it is better to plant a walnut in the fall, while others argue that planting a walnut in the spring is a more reliable way to grow a healthy, fruitful tree. In fact, growing a walnut is not so difficult. It is only necessary to adhere to some rules and recommendations. Since the walnut plant, planting and caring for it have a number of features.

Characteristics and description of the walnut

Walnut (Voloshsky) nut is a fairly tall tree, reaching a height of about 25 meters. It has a developed, strong root system that can spread up to 20 meters around. The trunk of the tree is straight, thick, covered with dark gray bark with a lot of cracks. Numerous branches form a widely spreading crown. Walnut leaves consist of 5-9 oval, elongated plates, have a specific smell.

The tree blooms from the second half of April to the beginning of May. The flowers are greenish in color, small, can be male and female. Men's are collected in large catkins, women's are single or collected in two or three, located on top of annual branches. The plant is pollinated by the wind. Pollen can be carried up to three hundred meters away.

Fruiting in a walnut begins 8-10 years after its planting. The fruits ripen in autumn in September - October. High yields are obtained from single trees. The tree gives the largest yields in about 50 years.

It should be noted that the walnut is considered a long-lived tree that lives and bears fruit under favorable conditions for up to 400 years.

The tree can be propagated both by seeds (nuts) and vegetatively.

Choosing and preparing a site for planting a nut

When choosing a place to plant a walnut tree in a permanent place, you need to give preference to a sunny, open area. You should not plant a nut on very swampy and compressed soils. The most suitable soil for planting walnuts is moist loam with little groundwater content and good drainage. From an excess of moisture, the roots of the tree will rot. This will lead to the fact that the tree will not bear fruit, and then it may die completely.

In addition, the walnut does not like neighborhood with other trees, so there should not be overgrown shrubs and tall trees within a radius of 3 meters. When planting several trees, observe the interval between them 5 - 10 meters.

The young shoot has not yet a very strong and developed root system, which does not allow it to receive nutrition from deep layers of soil. So that a young tree can receive everything necessary for good growth and development elements, the soil at the site of its planting should be well cultivated and fertilized. It is better to do this a few months before planting. To do this, dig a planting hole and fill it with organic fertilizers or a mixture consisting of one bucket of ready-made (old) humus, one glass of wood ash and one glass of double superphosphate. After a couple of months (before planting the seeds), weeds must be removed from the soil and loosened.

Before planting with seeds (which is often carried out in autumn), you should not use nitrogen fertilizers to fertilize the soil. They are generally not recommended for plants for the winter.

Planting walnut seeds

One of the features of the walnut tree is its ability to retain the properties of the mother tree when propagated by seeds. Of course, this method of planting is more laborious and time consuming. But it has its advantages:

• In the first year, the young shoot develops strong roots.
• In the future, trees planted in this way do not need special care, except for regular watering in dry weather.
• They begin to bear fruit earlier than those trees that are grown vegetatively.
• They have an annual, stable fruiting, without interruptions.

In order for the planting of walnuts, carried out by seeds, to give positive results in the future, you first need to select high-quality planting material (nuts) and prepare it. For this purpose, only ripe, large fruits with a whole, undamaged shell are selected. Before planting, it is desirable to stratify the fetus. To do this, it should be held for three to four months in a place with temperature regime+1 ... + 5 °С.

You can plant nuts in small pots in order to transplant the finished seedling into open ground in a few years. And you can immediately plant nuts in a permanent place in the ground.

It must be remembered that the germination of seeds in a nut lasts for one year. Therefore, some gardeners believe that planting walnut seeds in open ground is best done in the fall. In winter, the fruits will undergo stratification, and with the onset of spring, the most viable sprouts will sprout. This does not apply to the northern regions, where the air temperature in winter drops below -25°C. In this case, it is better to grow seedlings at home. For spring planting, nuts need to be stored in a dry and cool place.

It is necessary to plant seeds in open ground to a depth of 10 - 15 centimeters, and in colder regions - up to 20 centimeters.

It is better to lay the nuts in the prepared hole with the seam up, 3-4 pieces, making the distance between them 15-20 centimeters. If all the seeds sprout in the hole, then after 2 years only one, the healthiest and strongest shoot, will need to be selected from them, and the rest should be planted or simply thrown away.

Planting walnut seedlings

Young walnut seedlings can be planted in the ground both in spring and autumn. It all depends on climate zone. But more often, walnut seedlings are planted in the spring, before the buds swell on the tree. Since a tree planted in the autumn may not have time to take root and will not be able to survive the cold winter.

For planting, choose two-year or three-year-old seedlings with a trunk thickness of at least one centimeter. In this case, the height of the seedling does not matter.

Before planting, the seedling must be handled carefully so as not to harm its root system. So that the roots of seedlings that are without soil for a long time do not dry out (for example, during transportation), they can be dipped in a special clay mash. For its preparation, one part of the already decomposed manure is mixed with three parts of clay, all this is mixed with water to the state of sour cream. Before planting, the clay mixture is washed off so that the contact of the roots with the soil is closer. If the seedlings have dried up a little (this is noticeable by the wrinkled bark), their roots need to be placed for a day - two should be placed in water.

Just before planting, you should carefully examine the roots. Remove damaged and diseased. vertical root shoots are usually pruned by two-thirds.

Experienced gardeners are advised to purchase shoots with a “canned” root system for planting. Already added to the root container necessary fertilizers, which contribute to the rapid growth of a young tree. Planting a walnut in this way is possible even in dry times. Such trees take root better and faster.

It is better to plant a young tree in a permanent place so that it is turned to the south with the same side as in the nursery.

In pre-prepared and fertilized soil, a hole is dug about 50 centimeters deep and about one meter in diameter. Two-thirds of the hole is filled with water. When the water is absorbed in the middle of the hole, you need to pour a small mound and place a tree on it so that its root neck is at a height of three to five centimeters above the soil. Then the plant is carefully sprinkled with earth. The earth around the plant should be tightly tamped and watered abundantly. Extra branches from a young tree are removed.

At the first time after planting, you need to ensure that the roots of the seedling are not exposed, if necessary, add soil.

So that in the future the tree would give good harvests, he needs to provide conditions for pollination. The walnut is pollinated by the wind, so it is better to plant several trees nearby at once.

Peculiarities of walnut care

Walnuts grow quite slowly and need good care, especially if you grow them in unusual climatic conditions for them.

• Watering

The first waterings after planting are needed to compact the soil. Young trees especially need watering in spring and summer, as well as during drought. It is enough to water it twice a month. One watering should take about three buckets of water per square meter of soil. Trees that have reached a height of 4 meters can be watered less frequently.

It is advisable to mulch the soil around the nut. For this fit sawdust or manure. Leaves that have fallen from the tree can not be removed.

• Fertilizer

Fertilize the nut, as a rule, twice a year. In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers are added to the soil. And in the autumn - phosphorus and potash (they have a good effect on the fertility of the tree). Nitrogen fertilizers should be used with caution. They can provoke the reproduction of bacteria harmful to the tree. And also their use is not recommended in the first three years of fruiting a tree. So that in the future the tree could bear more fruit.

• pruning

It is not necessary to carry out special pruning in order to form a tree crown. The crown of the walnut is formed independently. Pruning should be branches that interfere with each other or damage the bark. If there is a need, then it is better to remove unnecessary branches not in the spring (during the active production of juice), but at the beginning of summer. If a tree loses a lot of sap, this will affect its growth in the future. Pruning of branches is carried out twice. First, cut off part of the branch, leaving a seven-centimeter knot. In the spring of next year, the already dried knot is removed. All cut points must be treated with garden pitch.

If the productivity of the tree has decreased greatly, and the fruits have become small and have an irregular shape, it is necessary to carry out rejuvenating pruning of the tree. Mature walnut trees, unlike young ones, are pruned in early spring. Remove high-growing branches and those that are directed inside the crown itself. In order to get more sunlight into the middle of the crown. Branches with side branches are also removed, directing them to the sides. This contributes to the influx of juice and the emergence of new shoots.

• Disease and pest control

The causes of walnut diseases are: lack of light, excess moisture, soil poverty, late spring frosts.

Common diseases include: brown spot, bacteriosis, root cancer.

Compared to other garden trees, the walnut is much less likely to be attacked by pests and insects.

To avoid this, preventive measures are taken. A young, low tree can be sprayed with special modern means. The first time the spraying of the tree is carried out even before the buds open, then it is repeated - in the first half of the growing season of the plant.

In order for a walnut seedling to grow into a healthy, strong, well-bearing tree, you first need to select a variety that feels comfortable in the area.

» Walnut

Usually it is a huge, by our standards, tree up to 25 meters it has a very indirect relation to Greece: the fruits were brought from the south, and "everything is in Greece." Surely, it also grows there, wild forms of this tree are common in Europe.

The tree looks impressive. A separately growing nut not only differs in height - its crown also reaches a diameter of 20 meters.

By European standards, it is a long-liver (second after oak)- specimens of 300-400-year-old trees are often found.

The development of a tree begins with the formation of a powerful tap root, which reaches 1.5 meters deep in the 5th year and 3.5 meters by the age of 20.

Horizontal ones do not grow immediately - they are formed after the rod, located in the surface layer of the soil at a depth of 20-50 centimeters.

The tree begins to bear fruit after 10 years of life., and from the age of 30-40, the time of full fruiting comes.

If the trees grow in groups, partially shading each other, they rarely produce more than 30 kg of yield, while a free-growing nut can produce up to 400 kg of nuts.

But such cases are rare, only a tree 150-170 years old is capable of such a harvest. Usually an adult tree 25-40 years old in Moldova gives 1500-2000 fruits or 2000-2500 in the Crimea.

Moscow region, central Russia - where else can you plant and grow walnuts

They are found in the European part from the foothills of the Caucasus to St. Petersburg where the northernmost nuts in Russia grow. But these are isolated cases, exceptions that only confirm the rule.

These trees do not freeze out completely, but they do not grow to their full potential either.

The main factor determining the possibility of growing this southern tree is not at all the winter sub-zero temperature. The sum of average daily temperatures above 10 degrees is taken into account. It cannot be less than 190 C.

If in winter the temperature does not drop below -36 degrees and for 130-140 days a year the temperature is above 0 C, the walnut can grow and bear fruit.

The best winter hardiness was shown by hybrids of Manchurian with walnut.

When planting even the best seed material brought from the south, adaptation to a cold climate does not occur - such trees regularly freeze slightly and practically do not bear fruit.

Completely unsuitable for growing varieties from places with a humid warm climate(west and south of Ukraine, the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus).

Only nuts from eastern Ukraine, the mountains of Central Asia or the Caucasus successfully adapt to the new conditions of central Russia.

Moreover, it is better to grow a nut from the stone yourself- An imported seedling (even from the indicated regions) will be significantly inferior in terms of endurance and adaptability to new conditions.

How and when to plant and grow a tree from a seedling: conditions

It must be immediately planted in a permanent place.. It is unrealistic to transplant a 5-year-old tree already. Therefore, you need to decide to take into account all the factors and calculate the consequences.

A vigorous tree can form a dense shade over an area of ​​approximately 100 sq.m. You will have to delete this area from circulation - there is little that can bear fruit under a walnut(affects the strong overwhelming effect of the biofield of a huge tree).

On the other hand, on this square you can equip a summer recreation area - essential oils nuts keep flies and mosquitoes close.

We choose a place for planting on the edge of the garden so as not to shade other trees. The walnut is very unpretentious to soils, although it prefers loose sandy-stony soil.

The landing hole is dug with the expectation that under the roots there is a layer of stones of at least 25 centimeters.

The bottom of the landing pit must be half filled with construction debris. (broken brick, pieces of cement, crushed stone) - this technique allows you to shift the flowering time of the tree by 1-2 weeks (the stones warm up slowly, the nut starts growing a little later, skipping the frost period).

Half a bucket of ash, compost or humus is brought into the pit. The soil should not be too fertile, the nut will grow intensively and will not have time to prepare for winter.

You need to take a seedling for planting only from a trusted seller, otherwise you won’t get anything except frostbitten branches of a southern tree, you probably won’t wait for the harvest.

A walnut tree is planted only in the spring, it enters a dormant period too early and will not have time to take root before winter.

It is believed that a walnut planted by hand from a bone will grow into a tree practically adapted to new conditions, which will develop successfully.

Seeds are planted in autumn directly into the ground to a depth of 7-10 cm.. It is advisable to lay sideways on the seam in the soil. Spring planting requires 2-3 months of stratification in wet sand.

Special care for seedlings is not required - in middle lane even walnuts have no pests.

How to plant an annual walnut seedling:

Care after planting: spring, summer and autumn

How to care? Walnuts may only need watering in spring and early summer. when there is an intensive growth of green mass. Usually the tree has enough soil reserve of winter moisture.

Water only young trees up to 5-7 years old, if it is completely dry.

The tap root system of the southern tree is adapted to find water in the lower horizons. After 10 years of age, watering the walnut should generally be forgotten.

For him, excess moisture threatens too active growth., to the detriment of maturation and preparation of wood for winter. Freezing after a wet summer is guaranteed.

In addition to stopping watering, care must be taken to prepare the root system for winter. That's why, trunk circles must be mulched with any organic matter or compost:

• in summer - to preserve moisture;
• in autumn - to protect the topsoil from freezing.

In particularly cold areas, the soil is mulched with a layer of at least 10 cm, especially in areas with little snow.

It is useful to cover the trunk up to a height of about 1 m with spruce branches or wrap it with newspapers in several layers (already after the first frosts). This will help to survive -40 degrees and below.

Such shelter is necessary only in the first years. The tree must be hardened naturally.

How to properly care during the growing process: before ripening and after

Like all fruit crops, walnuts need periodic feeding.

In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers are applied, in the second half of summer - only potash and phosphorus, which are responsible for preparing the tree for winter and laying the fruit buds of the next crop.

On cultivated soil, nitrogen can not be fed at all, and phosphorus and potash fertilizers can be applied (in terms of active substance) 10 g/sq.m.

Practice shows that the rule applies to all cases where the nut does not grow on obvious stones and clay.

What is especially pleasing - in the middle lane, the walnut has no natural enemies. It has already been said that flies and mosquitoes fly around it.

Moreover, walnut leaves can be cooked very effective remedy against aphids and various caterpillars, which is successfully used in Ukraine.

Completely harmless home remedy allows you to process trees and bushes with ovaries of fruits and berries.

Graft

Unfortunately, walnut cuttings do not take root - reproduction occurs only by seeds.

Vaccination is carried out in cases where:

• there is a seedling of probably winter-hardy Manchurian walnut, for which -40 in winter is not a problem;
• the planted variety did not live up to expectations - it became possible to re-graft it.

One-year-old seedlings are grafted into a split and, under control, grow in a greenhouse to a marketable appearance.

Young trees that have already produced their first few nuts can be re-grafted by the type of "eye budding"- only the bark is removed with a kidney in the form of a half-pipe (the method is called so) and combined with the same cutout on the rootstock.

Until complete healing, the vaccination site is tied with a film.

The result of grafting an adult walnut tree:

Reproduction in the country

The main method of obtaining seedlings is growing from seeds.. To simplify the process, nuts are planted without additional processing in the fall to a depth of about 10 centimeters. It is believed that it is better to lay them sideways on the seam.

Whoever did not have time to bury for the winter, put it in damp sand in the basement - the nut must pass the stratification, otherwise it will not hatch.

Walnut is renewed by stump shoots in just a year or two. These trees are able to bear fruit literally in the second year, and in 10 - already a significant harvest.

It turns out that a walnut can be successfully planted and grown in a country house in the middle lane, in the Moscow region. It is enough to follow simple rules:

• the right choice of location;
• seedling - only zoned;
• mandatory mulching of the trunk circle;
• shelter trunk from frost in the first years of life.

All this is within the power of most gardeners.. Choose a sunny location, protected from cold winds - the nut will thank you.

To avoid disappointment and harm your garden, it is important to know how to plant a walnut correctly. This tree is a long-liver, so you need to think about whether there is a suitable place for it on the site, take into account all the nuances in its development. A careful approach to this issue is the key to an excellent harvest in a few years.

walnut features

Walnut is a tall tree. If properly cared for in the garden, it can stretch up to 20 meters in height. Its crown is sprawling, up to 15 meters in diameter, the branches diverge from the trunk at a right angle.

The root system of the walnut is powerful. The first 3 years the main root grows. It is pivotal, penetrates deep into the soil. At 4-5 years, lateral roots begin to develop, which rush in all directions and diverge at a distance of 5-6 meters from the main root. They are located shallow, 30-50 cm from the soil surface. In century-old trees, the roots occupy a space with a diameter of about 20 meters. A developed root system allows an adult tree to easily tolerate insufficient watering and low rainfall.

If you cut down a walnut and leave a stump, a lot of overgrowth will begin to grow from it, which begins to bear fruit in 2-3 years. If necessary, get rid of the old stump, it will have to be uprooted. From the roots, shoots do not grow.

Flowering begins in spring, in early or mid-May. Flowers and leaves bloom at the same time. It is possible to re-bloom in June, most often it happens in the southern or middle lane. Male flowers appear on the walnut, collected in several earrings, and female flowers appear at the ends of annual shoots. They are pollinated by the wind.

Nuts are ready to be harvested in September or October, fruits from one tree may differ in taste and size.

Propagated by seeds or grafted seedlings.

Rules for planting a walnut tree in the garden

When planning the cultivation of a walnut tree in the garden, the following should be considered.

• Due to the developed root system and spreading crown, plants should be planted at a distance of 5-6 meters from each other.
• A walnut, having reached the age of 20, takes nutrients and moisture from the soil, and its crown gives a thick shadow. When choosing a place for seedlings, one must take into account that it will be impossible to grow something within a radius of 10 meters from a nut.
• You can not grow a walnut tree near the house. Its roots can destroy the foundation.
• Walnut in the process of photosynthesis releases substances that inhibit other fruit trees. It will be correct if you leave at least 10 meters between them when landing.
• The place should be sunny, in the shade the plant lags behind in growth and dies.
• Walnut prefers loose, well-drained soil.
• Does not tolerate areas with high level groundwater, as well as flooded during floods and rains.

It is best to grow a walnut tree at the far end of the garden. In a spacious area, it will be able to fully develop and will not interfere with other plants. AT small garden planting a walnut is undesirable.

Demanding for climatic conditions

Walnut is a thermophilic plant. Efficient cultivation is possible in the southern regions.

In the middle lane, the tree takes root well and bears fruit, but only if the winter temperature does not fall below -25 °. In severe frosts, the tree dies.

In the Leningrad Region, the tree-shaped walnut does not grow. Does not bear fruit regularly. If some of the branches freeze in winter, there will be no nuts in autumn.

Adult plants tolerate summer heat easily due to the developed root system. Young trees up to 5 years old need watering 2-3 times a month, during a drought - more often.

Reproduction by seeds

Growing from seeds will be successful if nuts harvested last year are used. This method has a number of disadvantages:

• the walnut grows slowly, it can be planted in a permanent place only after 5-7 years;
• 10 years after seed germination, the first crop appears, but it is meager;
• full fruiting begins only by 20-30 years.

If the seeds are planned to germinate in the spring, then they must undergo stratification. Nuts are buried in a container with moist soil or sand and placed in a cold place where the temperature is 4-6 °. Soil and sand must be heated in the oven or disinfected with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

It is correct if the nuts are pre-sorted. Thick-walled ones are sent for stratification 3 months before planting, and with a thin shell - 2 months before. Seed care during stratification consists in keeping the sand moist and controlling the temperature.

Seeds are recommended to be taken from trees growing in the same area where the new plant is planned to be planted. If this is not possible, then you should buy them from trusted sellers. Only last year's high quality nuts have good germination.

Planted in the ground in April. It is important that the soil warms up to 10 °. The bed must be prepared in advance.

Planting depth - from 5 to 8 cm, depending on the size of the seeds. The distance between the nuts is 30 cm. Correctly position the nut sideways, with the longitudinal groove down. They hatch quickly, within 5-10 days. Shoots grow vigorously at first, but when they reach 15 cm, growth slows down. The stem begins to form.

It is possible to accelerate the growth of seedlings if the seeds are sown in a greenhouse. The period of preparation of seedlings is reduced by three times.

seedling care and open field, and in the greenhouse is simple: watering, weeding, loosening. You can facilitate care by mulching, it reduces the frequency of watering, prevents weeds from growing.

Graft

You can accelerate the fruiting of trees grown from nuts by grafting. To carry out this procedure correctly, you must wait until the age of the seedlings (rootstock) reaches 2 or 3 years.

The best time for vaccination is February, when sap flow has not yet begun. The graft must be taken in the nursery of your region, from a mother plant adapted to the climate. Grafted in a split.

Grafted seedlings can be planted in a permanent place in the second year after vaccination.

Planting seedlings

The time of planting a seedling to a permanent place depends on the region.

In the southern strip, the best period is autumn. The walnut will have time to take root before winter, without wasting energy on building up green mass. In autumn, care for it is minimal - there is no sweltering heat, the soil is moist, no weeding and loosening is required.

If a nut is planted in the south in the spring, it will not have time to get stronger and will die from the summer heat. To keep such a seedling in the summer, a lot of effort will have to be spent on additional care, which consists in constant watering with warm water.

In the middle lane, seedlings are planted only in spring, so that by autumn they take root and grow stronger.

The pits should be 50x50 cm in size, the same depth. Fill them up fertile soil, add humus and wood ash.

A peg is driven into the center of the pit for support. In the first three years, the central tap root develops, and there are very few lateral ones that support the tree in the soil. A seedling without support can be damaged by the wind.

The plant is deepened into the soil so that the root collar is at ground level.

Further care

Good care is needed in the first three years after landing in a permanent place. Top dressing is carried out twice: in the fall, phosphate and potash fertilizers are applied, and in the spring, nitrogen is needed to build up the aerial part. The soil should be moist, but not wet. The soil should dry out slightly between waterings.

When the tree reaches the age when fruiting occurs, nitrogen fertilizers are reduced or applied every three years. Water only during the dry season.

Remove branches that are bent down, crossed or pointing inward.

Walnut is almost not susceptible to diseases and pests.

Conclusion

The walnut is an easy-care tree that, after reaching 4-5 years, requires almost no special attention.

You can speed up the harvest if you plant seedlings bought in a nursery or grafted on your own. To get fruits from a tree grown from seeds, you will have to be patient and wait at least 10 years.

The walnut is a big garden favorite and looks beautiful as a solitary plant. In a small garden, it will also grow, but it will destroy all the trees and shrubs growing next to it.

The walnut was first brought to Russia a very long time ago, along the famous route called "from the Varangians to the Greeks." For this, in fact, the nut got its name. Often it is called not just walnut, but also Greek, royal, Volosh. Despite the fact that this nut is an overseas plant, it can also be grown in an ordinary Russian garden, however, only on condition that the area for growing the plant is located in southern region countries. Unfortunately, this plant cannot survive in cold climates. In this article, we will learn how to plant a walnut and care for it after the seedling has taken root.

The plant we are considering is deciduous tree, walnut. The desired green organism can reach a height of 25 meters. At the same time, the maximum diameter of the trunk is one and a half meters.

In addition to its fruits, which have significant nutritional value, the tree is a supplier of one of the most valuable wood species. According to the conclusions of many experts, a product made of walnut wood can last up to five hundred years.

The walnut is cultivated, as a rule, for the sake of receiving its fruits. Growing a tree is fairly easy if you know how to properly plant it.

Walnuts did not originally grow in Russia, they were brought to our homeland on the way "from the Varangians to the Greeks"

For disembarkation, you need to stock up planting material, given that given plant can reproduce in the following ways:

• seeds;
• vegetatively.

So, let's get down to considering the features associated with planting a walnut.

Video - How a walnut ripens

How to plant a walnut: instructions

Step 1 - choose a place to plant a nut

It is very important when placing a nut to carefully choose a place for planting it. As we have already said, this tree can grow rather big, so you need to place it at a relative distance from other plants, so that the nut does not hamper them.

The fact is that the crown of the plant is formed quite sprawling, and it can block the sun's rays for all the other inhabitants of your garden. Therefore, if nothing is growing in the indicated area yet, plan to plant only shade-loving plants there.

If you will plant several trees, leave a distance of at least 5 meters between each seedling.

It is also very important to watch that groundwater does not flow too close to the surface where your seedling is planted, as nuts do not like excess moisture.

Step 2 - choose high-quality planting material

It is better to purchase seedlings for cultivation in a specialized store or on the market from a trusted seller who is able to grow strong walnut seedlings.

High-quality planting material - a strong seedling with a well-developed root system

It is important to remember that the walnut first develops the root system, and only then the green part of the plant goes up, therefore, if you see an overgrown sprout with a small rhizome in the market or in a store, it is most likely not viable, and the increase in its green part is artificially stimulated .

In order for the tree to quickly take root on the site, it is necessary to choose a seedling that, according to appearance will be:

• strong;
• strong;
• without cortical damage.

By the way, it is better to buy trees that do not have leaves, so that all its resources are focused precisely on rooting. If you take a seedling with abundantly growing foliage, then it may die.

Step 3 - prepare the landing hole

As for many others fruit trees, for growing walnuts, it is necessary to prepare a planting hole. The dimensions of this recess should be:

• 50 centimeters wide;
• 50 centimeters long;
• 70 centimeters deep.

You need to dig a hole in advance, about 60 days before planting occurs.

• rotted manure;
• ground limestone (no more than a kilogram);
• mineral fertilizer containing potassium and phosphorus.

Such a nutrient medium will not only help the root system of the nut grow, but also stimulate its development.

Step 4 - plant a nut in a prepared hole

So, we put the purchased seedling into the prepared pit, so that the root neck of the plant is about 5 centimeters above the ground level. Then the roots of the plant are covered with soil remaining after digging the hole, which subsequently:

• carefully trampled down;
• abundantly watered clean water(at least 2 ten-liter buckets).

When trampling down, do not accidentally damage the roots that may have remained close to the ground.

Step 5 - mulch the ground around the seedling and protect the plant from the wind

So that moisture does not evaporate so quickly from the thickness of the earth in which the plant is planted, it is best to spread mulch around the perimeter of the plant - a special flooring made of various materials, for example:

• from straw;
• sawdust;
• special agro-fabric, etc.

It is advisable to protect the seedlings of this plant also from strong winds. Their fragile trunk can break from gusts of air, therefore, it is necessary to tie each tree to a wooden peg buried in the ground at a distance of 10 centimeters from the trunk.

Landing Features

Walnut planting can be carried out in two periods of the year:

• spring;
• autumn.

Planting at each of these seasons has its own advantages and disadvantages. Let's take a look at them further.

Planting walnuts in spring

It is believed that in the spring it is necessary to plant in a hole prepared for planting an already grown seedling, which has “knocked” from one to two years. By the way, it happens that some gardeners still dig a few nuts into the ground in the fall, and those that germinate in the spring are transplanted and begin to cultivate.

However, if you still intend to try this method, you can use the trick and select the most viable seeds for cultivation, and then stimulate their growth and development.

Table 1. How to stimulate the growth and development of planting material for planting nuts in the spring

Stage	Description
Selection of viable planting material	Nuts previously selected for planting are poured into a large container with water. Those of them that immediately drowned become ideal planting material in the future, since such a rapid immersion is justified by the integrity of their nuclei, which means that there are greater chances for successful germination.
Stratification	In the spring, the selected nuts begin to be subjected to the so-called stratification - a procedure that involves simulating the impact on the nuts of negative weather conditions. In other words, the nuts are periodically strongly cooled. Thus, they awaken hidden energy resources, increasing the vitality of seedlings.

If in the spring you are transplanting a tree already growing on your site, then you need to carry it out as follows:

• carefully dig a seedling;
• release the roots of the plant from excess soil;
• carry out a minimal pruning of the rhizome in order to stimulate its further growth.

Note: among experienced gardeners, a very common trick related to the cultivation of a walnut, which says that to prevent the tree from drying out and for the growth of its root system, it is necessary to put a metal object in the planting hole. For example:

• tin can;
• rusty nails, etc.

It is also very important to keep track of the condition and composition of the soil on which you plan to plant a tree. So, the walnut does not tolerate:

• too dense soil;
• swampy lands.

These are the features of planting a walnut in the spring.

Planting walnuts in autumn

Many gardeners refuse to plant a walnut in the fall, because it has a number of disadvantages, in particular, we are talking about:

• reduced survival rate of plantings when propagating walnut seeds;
• infection of plantings, subsequently manifested in many different diseases and weakness of the plant.

So, by planting nuts in the ground in autumn, you give them time to crack open before germination. As a result, various can get inside the fetus:

• bacteria;
• worms;
• even rodents.

The desired organisms are able to completely damage the nut or infect it with some kind of disease.

However, despite the above circumstances, planting a walnut in autumn is still considered more relevant, since future trees have time to finally prepare for germination and become stronger in the ground during the winter.

In addition, in the fall, seedlings quite simply go into a state of rest, while having enough time to take root, since at this time the movement inside the green body of the plant slows down:

• water;
• nutrient substances.

How to care for a walnut after planting

In order for the plant to develop and grow as you intended, it is necessary to provide it with sufficient care. It is especially necessary to carefully take care of the tree for the first three years of its life, subsequently the grip can be somewhat loosened.

Watering the plant

After the tree is planted, it is necessary to provide it with daily watering in order to nourish the roots and compact the soil covering them. So you need to continue to water for about a week, then a smooth transition to much less frequent watering is carried out - up to once every seven days.

Of course, you also need to focus on weather conditions, given that in the summer heat the plant needs a lot large quantity water. By the way, so that the sun's rays do not burn the foliage and trunk of trees, it is necessary:

• water the plant under the root;
• stop watering during the day.

When the tree reaches a height of four to five meters, it will practically cease to need watering.

Walnut fertilizer after planting

After the tree is planted, it must be fed about once every six months.

To increase the yield of walnuts, "spring" fertilizers containing nitrogen are used. In autumn, substances containing various minerals are added to the ground on which the nut grows, as well as having in its composition:

• phosphorus;
• potassium.

Nuts must be fertilized strictly according to the instructions so as not to harm the root system of the plant with overly aggressive preparations.

When to expect the first harvest

The first harvest of the nut planted by you will have to be expected for at least 6 years. As you can see, the period is considerable, but the wait is worth it, since the fruits collected later can be used:

• raw for food;
• as a cosmetic;
• as an ingredient in various dishes;
• for making jam;
• in sauces;
• as a medicine, etc.

Note: to collect walnuts, it is better to wear gloves, otherwise the hands will turn black from the iodine secreted by the pericarp. The collected nuts must be washed and then dried thoroughly.

How to plant a walnut

This tree reproduces very easily, however, it grows too long. To speed up this process, you can graft the plant, which can seriously shorten the waiting period.

It is better to graft a walnut at the very beginning of summer, since it is at this time that maximum probability the so-called adaptation of the handle, equal to approximately 80%.

However, vaccination can also be carried out in the winter-spring time (February-March). To do this, in the fall, you need to be puzzled by the preparation of cuttings, cutting them from a walnut shoot one year old. The length of each cutting should be from 10 to 15 centimeters.

Finished cuttings are sent to a container in which abundantly moistened sawdust or sand lie, and then they are moved to storage in a room where the temperature of their content will be from 0 to 5 degrees Celsius.

Rootstocks (parts of trees of less whimsical varieties) also need to be prepared in advance, in autumn, even before severe frosts come. Rootstocks are wrapped in cellophane film and sent for storage under the same conditions as walnut cuttings.

The day before you start grafting, you will need to heat both rootstocks and cuttings, leaving them in a room or other room where the temperature is about 15 degrees.

Heated parts are combined with each other by the copulation method, which implies:

• grafting with a cutting and scion of the same thickness;
• creating oblique cuts on both materials;
• combination of components with corresponding tissues exposed on sections.

We wrap the combined parts of the future tree with a bag or a simple plastic film, and then install them in a container with wet sawdust or sand. So it will be necessary to store the workpiece until the moment of planting (approximately mid-April or another date at the time the earth is completely warmed up).

Summing up

Walnut is a valuable plant, the benefits of which are invaluable in many ways. So, in warm regions, it is an essential food for people, which determines their excellent health. Planting a walnut is quite simple, as is propagating it, in this sense it is a malleable plant. However, in order to speed up the process of obtaining a crop, it is best to graft this plant, and only then plant it in a permanent place of residence. When the tree grows, you will be able to enjoy nutritious fruits, eating them to your heart's content and enjoying your labors.