I mentioned a walnut next to my drive I wanted to play with. I want to cut everything back to stubs, and see if I can keep it small, though it's already a little taller than I'd like. That'll involve removing all the green. Is it particularly bad doing that this time of year? I believe winter is the time for major pruning, but I'd prefer keeping it from growing more up, and my thoughts are it could help it recover before cold weather comes. Good idea, bad idea, doesn't matter? The tree isn't that important, and in all likelihood, it'll completely come down at some point, but I don't want to ruin my project before it gets going. I'd have to look at it, but going on my unreliable memory, it's 3"dbh, and maybe 12' tall.
Pruning - Remove Every Leaf From Black Walnut
- Thread starter lxskllr
- Start date
- Replies 29
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Mellow
BCMA
Rather than remove all of the leaves, maybe try subordinate pruning as advocated by Dr. Ed Gilman at University of Florida.
flushcut
TreeHouser
I don't really have a good answer for you other than walnuts are tough to kill.
Altissimus
TreeHouser
If you offered me the job I'd probably refuse it ... can't make a Tree into a Shrub is my beliefs
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
I wouldn't do it, but it's there, so I might as well see what can be done. Squirrels planted it under the wires, and it isn't in a particularly good place taking the wires out of the equation. Left alone, it'll definitely have to be removed. Maybe it'll turn into something interesting if cut.
Mick!
TreeHouser
I have found them resilient to hard pruning.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #7
Yea, that's what got me interested in it. I have one next to my porch that's basically coppiced. A walnut grew up right next to the house. I kinda liked it there for the shade, but it rubbed some color off the siding, and probably would have torn the porch up. I cut it off, and it gets sprouts every year. I let them grow til they get unmanageable, then cut them off again.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
Thanks for the term "subordinate pruning". I was unfamiliar, and a search brought up a lot of good pages on that and other pruning techniques. I don't know much of anything about pruning, and when I searched in the past, it brought up a lot of low quality homeowner type guides. "Subordinate pruning" gives better depth, and information geared towards professionals.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Well if it is your tree and it is in a horrible spot and you don't care about the tree you can always turn it into a science experiment and see. Publish a paper and become famous.
Mellow
BCMA
Post up some pics from different angles. Maybe you can do some kind of topiary thing with it. ???
Altissimus
TreeHouser
I like Dinasour shapes
Mick!
TreeHouser
The official line at college was summer pruning of walnuts is preferable.
The sap bleeds before the leaves come out if you cut in spring.
I’ve bashed em all year round to no ill effect though.
Younger trees are generally better at recovering from a topping than older ones.
Just go for it.
The sap bleeds before the leaves come out if you cut in spring.
I’ve bashed em all year round to no ill effect though.
Younger trees are generally better at recovering from a topping than older ones.
Just go for it.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #13
I'll get a couple pics when I go out next. I'll have to give it a good look, but the options for making it look right are limited. It's growing within the dripline of my erc, under the wires, and over my new leatherleaf viburnum. Kinda thinking about hauling it over to try to give it a "weeping" shape. I'm pretty skeptical of that working though, and it might be too thick already. I particularly like bent twisted trees, but I'm not sure walnut is the best candidate to make it happen.
Bodean
Cali dreamer
Gilman is the best... Then of course Shigo.
Walnuts are a weird tree.
Walnuts are a weird tree.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #15
It's taller than I remembered. I think I was fixated on my proposed cutting location, which is ~10' up.
Side view showing the lean. Perhaps pull it over more in that direction?
Front view...
Proposed cutting location(upper fork). I'm thinking leaving two stubs, and encouurage it to grow more sideways than up...
You can see the other stuff that's grown up too. The pin oak I'll remove. I don't think there's anything interesting you can do with that by limiting height. The honeysuckle will get a basal prune also. That stuff's relentless, and grows into everything. There's some other kind of shrub in there also. Don't know what is, but grows around the property. That'll stay for awhile to see if I can work with it.
I'm on a 30yr timeline with this, so structural integrity isn't a primary concern. That's about the years I have left, and after that is the definition of 'not my problem'. Whoever ends up with this place will probably cut everything down anyway. People don't seem to like trees anymore.
Side view showing the lean. Perhaps pull it over more in that direction?
Front view...
Proposed cutting location(upper fork). I'm thinking leaving two stubs, and encouurage it to grow more sideways than up...
You can see the other stuff that's grown up too. The pin oak I'll remove. I don't think there's anything interesting you can do with that by limiting height. The honeysuckle will get a basal prune also. That stuff's relentless, and grows into everything. There's some other kind of shrub in there also. Don't know what is, but grows around the property. That'll stay for awhile to see if I can work with it.
I'm on a 30yr timeline with this, so structural integrity isn't a primary concern. That's about the years I have left, and after that is the definition of 'not my problem'. Whoever ends up with this place will probably cut everything down anyway. People don't seem to like trees anymore.
Mick!
TreeHouser
Cut that crappy cypress out.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #17
Cypress? The ones right next to it are ERC. The brown you see is from the other side of the drive, and I don't know what it is. Perhaps some kind of juniper. It's a pretty crappy tree. but it has interesting bark/trunk. It's been butchered by the line guys, and I let the interior grow up with all kinds of plants. That's where the lamp is I mentioned elsewhere that I want to fix. Once I get that presentable, I'll start cleaning the trash out of it, but I'll leave it somewhat grown up. I don't really have a plan. I'll just start removing, and see if anything comes to me.
Mick!
TreeHouser
This thing.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #19
Yea, that's ERC. I've got six of them I think lining the driveway. I dug them up on jobs I was working on years ago. That's my favorite native conifer.
edit:
It's probably not an attractive tree by conventional standards, but they smell nice, and it's native. The birds like it, and it keeps the driveway sheltered.
edit:
It's probably not an attractive tree by conventional standards, but they smell nice, and it's native. The birds like it, and it keeps the driveway sheltered.
Mick!
TreeHouser
Then I’m putting my briefcase back in the pickup, wishing you well and declining to quote!
flushcut
TreeHouser
You could totally make a dinosaur out of that.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Can you get a refund for airfare?
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
Your walnut is just a baby. It will never want to stay in a small shape. With huge regrowth sprouts, I can't see something "interesting" to do with it. The good side is that you probably don't have to worry much about rot at the cuts.
murphy4trees
TreeHouser
Like most fruit tree
