A Walnut Wonder

Recently I returned to a stand of walnut hybrid trees I planted some years ago. I was impressed with the quality of the trees. This tree in particular exhibits all the features you want if you’re interested in growing walnut trees for their timber.

A Walnut Wonder



Desirable Features

This hybrid walnut is a variety made by crossing a black walnut Juglans nigra with common walnut Juglans regia. This particular commercial variety has the enticing name ‘NG23’.

late to leaf – this means it’s less likely to be damaged by late-spring forestslight and horizontal branching – making it easy to prune leaving small knotsstraight stem – free of defects and tensionstrong apical dominance – no forking requiring heavy pruning

Notice how this tree’s been given plenty of space and light. Alternatively, you could encourage a shrub layer to grow underneath, particularly if it’s nitrogen-fixing so it will feed the walnuts.