Nut bearing walnut trees

Nutlets enlarge as the summer passes. They can be picked for pickling until the shell forms in early July.

Nuts such as those below can be harvested around the end of October.

The following varieties are recommended for their nut-bearing prowess.

Broadview

The best all-purpose, precocious form. Probably enters bearing sooner than any of the other varieties listed (3 years after transplanting).

Apparently capable of carring nuts in years when frost damage has occurred. Not for avenues, due to its compact form.

ORIGIN: British Columbia
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Compact, spreading but slow growing
NUT TYPE: Elongate nut
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 47%
LEAFING ONSET: 6th May
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Marked protandry
CROPPING: Medium-Heavy
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 3-4 years

Buccaneer

A healthy and robust Dutch variety. The nut is round and carried in abundance and this may make it particulary well suited to the production of pickled walnuts.

ORIGIN: Netherlands
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Upright form, more vigorous than Broadview
NUT TYPE: Round
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 44%
LEAFING ONSET: 12th May
TYPE OF FLOWERING:
CROPPING: Medium
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 4 years

Hansen

Unusual in that the variety bears nuts in clusters of up to 13 nuts.

Heavy cropper, able to stand very cold winters, thus popular in Canada and the northern US.

ORIGIN: Germany
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Medium, modest grower
NUT TYPE: Small and round
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 45-50%
LEAFING ONSET: 1st May
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Protandrous
CROPPING: Medium-Heavy
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 3-4 years

Lara

A French variety, Lara does only moderately well in the UK. In France it is often to be seen trained in a cordon – a technique much used there but which for some reason doesn’t travel well. Like Mayette, another French variety, Lara is very susceptible to walnut blight.

Metcalfe

Originates in the Rochester area of New York. It is moderately resistant to blight and has a round, medium sized, thin shelled nut.

ORIGIN: USA
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Medium size and vigour
NUT TYPE: Medium and round
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 55%
LEAFING ONSET: Not known
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Protandrous
CROPPING: Medium
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 4 years

Number 16

Grown from seed of the variety Rita, and displaying some of its parent’s character, although more vigorous.

Like Rita, whilst this form is also slightly protogenous, opinion is that it may be self-fertile. Leafing is slightly later than Rita, which can be helpful in marginal conditions.

ORIGIN: Michigan, USA
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Large, powerful grower
NUT TYPE: Medium
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 54%
LEAFING ONSET: 28th April
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Slight protogeny
CROPPING: Heavy
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 4 years

Plovdivski

One of the best Eastern European forms. Although its early leafing makes it slightly speculative, the quality and size of the kernel is outstanding.

ORIGIN: Bulgaria
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Medium size and vigour
NUT TYPE: Large and elongate
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 60%
LEAFING ONSET: 26th April
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Protandrous
CROPPING: Medium
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 4 years

Proslavski

Another top-quality Eastern European form. Slightly inferior to Plovdivski in regard to its pollination. Reluctance to produce its own catkins suggests that it would prosper alongside Buccaneer, which is shedding most pollen around 6th June, corresponding perfectly with the mid-bloom of Proslavski.

ORIGIN: Bulgaria
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Large
NUT TYPE: Large and elongate
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 60%
LEAFING ONSET: 24th April
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Marked protandry
CROPPING: Medium
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 4 years

Red Danube

Due to its rarity, the characteristics of this variety – also known as ‘Roter Donau’ – have yet to be firmly established when grown under British conditions. Carries an extraordinary red nut, the walnut equivalent of a blood orange.

ORIGIN: Germany/Austria
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Medium size and vigour
NUT TYPE: Medium
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 45%

Rita

A super hardy strain with very heavy crops. Should make a good choice for urban gardens due to its relative compactness and suggestions that in practice this variety appears to be self-fertile.

ORIGIN: Carpathia
TREE HABIT AND VIGOUR: Small, fast grower
NUT TYPE: Elongate and thin shell
KERNEL TO NUT RATIO: 54%
LEAFING ONSET: 25th April
TYPE OF FLOWERING: Slight protogeny
CROPPING: Heavy
AGE AT FIRST BEARING: 4 years

Soleze

A French variety like Lara and similarly to be seen grown in cordons in France, Soleze does not appear to share Lara’s susceptibility to blight, but nor does it fare particularly well in the UK climate. It is protandrous, bears large nuts of good flavour and is partly self-fertile. Although slow-growing it makes a large tree at maturity.