Growing a Walnut Tree in a small space

Hello,

I have a small outdoor space that features a medium sized Walnut Tree in a largish raised bed.

it’s a very attractive feature of the garden however I am concerned that we either may not have enough space for it to grow into or that it’s development may impede the progress of others.

is there anything in particular that I should be aware of when attempting to nurture such a tree?

I have read a small amount it it and have heard about a chemical the Walnut tree gives off known as Junglone that prevents most things from growing in or around the tree so should anybody know anything about this I would be grateful.

Thanks

 

Not a good tree for a small garden

 

@Silver surfer Oh wow now that is quite a tree. Should I be thinking of getting rid or will it get to a point and stop growing?

 

Is what looks like currently. Not the greatest pictures but all J seem to have at the moment

 

It will just keep growing.
Each year it will get bigger.
Even trees 200 years old keep growing.

I cannot tell you what to do.
If you love it keep it a few more years.
But each year it grows it means more work when you do want remove it.

We made that mistake in our last garden.
We had masses of alder saplings.In no time we had massive trees with massive roots.
It was not easy to fell them, cut them up, get rid of all the small twiggy bits, digging roots out was a massive task.

 

One thought while it's not yet too humongous is that it might survive removal and replanting elsewhere. A gardener with a mini digger could extract it relatively easily with most of the roots if they're careful. Maybe you won't get the benefit, but at least you know it's still alive somewhere.

And if it's viable, the gardener will be able to resell it, so you should be able to negotiate extraction being free or at least very cheap. They'd get a few hundred quid for a reasonable sized tree.

If you keep it there though, the only option sooner or later will be to chop it down, and it's always sad to have to do that to a nice tree. Ash, sycamore and elder deserve no sympathy, of course! But something like your walnut, it feels like a waste.

 

I fear the idea of digging up transplanting would fail.
Juglans regia produce a deep taproot and they are intolerant of root disturbance.
Quote RHS......"Young trees less than 3m (10ft) tall, are easiest to establish and care must be taken to prevent damage to the tap root, so pot-bound plants should be avoided"

Second problem.....How the heck would you get a mini digger up the brick steps?

 

They are very nice ornamental trees but hardly a rarity, and I also think there are some good selections for nut production in the UK.
Which kind of puts a seed grown plant in the interesting but not that special section.

I had one myself but got rid of it once I found myself cutting it back every year.

 

yours is only a small one I have 6 .
The original one is 150 yrs old and quite big

..The others were planted in late 1970s in builders type buckets.here they stayed until we moved here 20 yrs back.

The walnut trees were then planted .they are still small.

I think it depends on which ones they are as my remaining ones are slow growing and still only big enough for friends grandson to climb to the top safely.but he is only five. So not much of a tree . but have had nuts on for last few years.

The trees have a lot of comeback .but don't cut back until late autumn after nuts have finished as they weep. I

Your tree doesn't look too big to me and they are slow growers.I would not cut it down!

 

Sorry
dieback not comeback

 

There are three planted in the grounds of what were police flats at the end of my road. They must be at least forty yts old. They are not much bigger than when first planted, and I have never seen them attended to.

 

Nice to see Purple Streaks posting again.

 

That at least is solvable. Sand bag ramps work well, and smaller mini diggers can fit through a standard doorway.

That said, I didn't realize they were a taproot job. It'll be about the same depth as the tree height, so I guess you won't be shifting that.

 

An Avenue of walnuts were planted in my local park in the year 2000, far too close together.
In 20 years they have grown a lot.

I always think of walnut as a moderately fast grower if it's happy.
Mine used to grow shoots up to 2 feet long each year.
And as with most trees if you cut back hard they grow more vigorously the following year.