Juglans nigra, the eastern American black walnut, is a species of deciduous tree in the walnut family, Juglandaceae, native to North America. It grows mostly in riparian zones, from southern Ontario, west to southeast South Dakota, south to Georgia, northern Florida and southwest to central Texas.
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Featured video:
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Source: https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=934
When grown in the open, the black walnut reaches 75′ tall with a round, low branching, open crown that spreads nearly as wide as it is tall. In forests and plantations, the tree may reach 150′ tall with a well formed trunk and lower limbs self pruned from « to 2/3 the distance from the ground. It develops a deep taproot and is difficult to transplant.
The hard to crack shell encases a rich flavored nut. However, the crushed black walnut shells can stain fingers, clothing, and concrete. The trees bear in 12-15 years. (Partally self-fertile, plant multiple trees to ensure pollination) (zones 4-9)
Alleopathy is the term given to the suppression of growth of one plant species by another due to the release of toxic substances. Black walnut tree roots contain juglone, a toxic substance released when the the roots of other juglone-sensitive species come in contact with walnut roots. You must keep a wide separation between the black walnut tree and susceptible plants. A partial list includes tomatoes, potatoes, peas, peppers, cabbage, alfalfa, serviceberry, chestnut, pine, arborvitae, apples, blueberry, blackberry, cherry, azalea, rhododendron, lilac, hydrangea, privet, members of the heath family. The black walnut’s poison does not work on all species and some even seem to thrive on it.
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Black Walnut – Uses, Side Effects, and More
Black walnut (Juglans nigra) is a tree native to the US that’s harvested for its wood and edible nuts. The tree bark has been used in traditional medicine.
Black walnut contains high concentrations of chemicals called tannins, which can reduce pain and swelling and dry up body fluids such as mucous.
People use black walnut to lower the risk of heart disease, for skin wounds, and for other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.
Tree nuts, including black walnut, are considered major food allergens in the US. Don’t confuse black walnut with English walnut. There are not the same.
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Videos
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How to grow
Below is a link to our identification guide, which also contains step by step instruction for germinating Black Walnut trees. It is a good quick reference to refer to after watching this video: https://growitbuildit.com/black-walnu…
For a listing of plants that die, or become stressed near Black Walnut trees, see here: https://growitbuildit.com/plants-pois…
The nutcracker I showed in the video – you can buy those here from the guy here – https://www.ebay.com/itm/Walnut-nut-C… It is a very nice nutcracker, you have lots of leverage, and you can quickly adjust it to crack different sized nuts such has Hickory, Butternut, or just about anything else.
US farm:
Black Walnut purchaser/retailer:
Hammons Products Company
105 Hammons Drive
PO Box 140
Stockton, Missouri 65785
he wild American Black Walnut is native to 32 states and is the official tree nut of Missouri, where the crop is most abundantly found. It is one of the most valuable and fully utilized natural forest trees in the United States. The flavorful nuts contain the highest protein of any other tree nut and are hand-harvested and used as a popular ingredient in both savory and sweet recipes, while the wood is used in crafting furniture and gun stocks. The husks can be used to make dyes, and the shells—the hardest of any tree nut in the world—are used in a wide range of industrial applications.
Europe
A review of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) ecology and management in Europe
Abstract
Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) is a light-demanding, competition-intolerant, and tall forest tree species, introduced in Europe from North America at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It has an important economic role in Europe for producing wood and fruits, in agroforestry systems, as an ornamental tree for parks and avenues, for rehabilitation/restoration of degraded lands.
The best sites for black walnut growth have warm and mild climates, with frequent and well-spread precipitation, and rich, deep, near neutral, well-drained and moist soils. Black walnut is a fast grower in youth and its height and diameter growth reach their peaks before age 30–35 years. It is globally the best known allelopathic species due to the juglone substance present in all parts of black walnut trees. The species is storm-resistant and not affected by any major pest or disease in Europe.
It is regenerated by planting or direct seeding on bare land, in monocultures and mixed stands. The management of stands with black walnut, with a rotation period generally up to 80 years, include weeding (mandatory), cleaning-respacing (in dense stands), thinning (mostly from above), high and formative pruning (mandatory), with the aim of producing valuable wood for sliced veneer, solid furniture, flooring/parquet, cabinetry, panelling, sculpture, musical instruments, gunstocks.
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UK
Black walnut is native to eastern North America and was introduced to Europe in 1629. In Britain it thrives best in warmer regions towards the south. It prefers fertile, lowland soil and needs plenty of light
Germany
Cultivation of the eastern American black walnut and hybrid walnut
This article presents two typical forest walnut trees grown for timber production, the black walnut and the hybrid walnut. You will also learn how the two species should be grown in order to produce valuable timber.
