True Root Nursery
English Walnut Seedling
English Walnut Seedling
Species: Juglans regia
History: English Walnut (aka Persian/Carpathian Walnuts) is native from the Balkans to the Himalayas and China. It possibly originated in Iran and over time has been spread across the world by Alexander the Great, the Romans, trade along the Silk Road, and British colonizers. In Italy, there were legends of witches gathering under an old English Walnut tree in Benevento to perform sabbats which in turn has inspired works such as the ballet Il Noce de Benevento. Still commonly grown and cultivated today, China is the main producer of commercial walnuts.
Why We Grow It: Although they aren't native like our other walnut trees, English Walnuts are known for being easier to open than Black Walnuts and remain popular for a reason. Our seedlings come a mother tree near Listowel ON, an extra boon when Ontario grown English Walnuts are said to produce sweeter nuts than those from California! The sap can be boiled to make walnut syrup, which tastes very similar to maple syrup but with notes of caramel and butterscotch. The husks can be used to flavour beer, like hops.
Be mindful of the juglones in the in the roots/nut husks, they are toxic to many other species. They require a buffer of about 50'/30m from the edge of the trees canopy for juglone-sensitive plants. This article from The Garden Hoe has a helpful list of plants that tolerate juglones. However there are recent (2019) studies showing healthy soil high in organic matter and mycorrhizal fungi actually reduce the toxicity of juglones suggesting many plants can grow below juglans species in a healthy ecosystem - it will be interesting to see more study done in this area!
Fruit Specs
Fruit Specs
Recommended Use: Nuts used for fresh eating, cooking or baking, or syrup enjoyed as you would maple syrup. Husks can be used to flavour beer, like hops.
Fruit Size:
Storage: Nuts keep up to three months in the fridge, syrup can be stored for about a year in the pantry
Harvest: March for syrup, October for nuts
Growing Specs
Growing Specs
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 6
Soil Preference: Prefers loam but adaptable to different soil types
Flowering Time:
Bloom Colour:
Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this tree will produce nuts without a different English Walnut tree present but will produce more and better nuts if one is present
Sun/Shade Requirements:
Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)
General Growth Habits:
Tree reaches 25-35m tall, generally has a short trunk and broad canopy, slow growing
Shipping vs. Pick Up
Shipping vs. Pick Up
CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.
Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.
Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.
Size at Purchase
Size at Purchase
English walnut seedlings are divided into the following grades:
-1 year plant - 15-30cm
There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.
All of these heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).
Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.
Why plant small? It's best to transplant when a plant is young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and bareroot plants tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted ones planted at the same time, after a few years.
Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the plants are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.
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