English Walnuts & Peaches

[Eugene]

Planning on adding to our, in progress, orchard at the acreage. This spring planted two varieties of apples, one plum seedling, and two varieties pecans. Have one mature pecan, no nuts, and black walnuts.

Question. Thinking about planting english walnuts and peach seedlings. Central Missouri, zone 6b.

Asking for varieties of english walnuts and peaches you have had success with. And any other fruit tree(s).

[lyle11]

I used to be a member of the NNGA (Northern Nut Growers Association). I only had a 1/2 acre my house was on (80 acres in Wisconsin but only can grow black walnuts and butternut hybrids) but I planted a nice Carpathian walnut tree that was a self pollinating grafted tree but the tree tag didn’t list a variety. It was a consistent biannual producer.

We scaled back to a smaller house. I planted two Carpathian trees from Stark Bros. Cultivars are Lake and Stark Champion. Easy to grow and are 6 years old and should have produced a small crop the last two years. The main problem with Carpathian walnuts is that the catkins and female flowers emerge very early in the spring and then freeze off if you get a cold snap and that is very common. That is what has happened the past two years now that they could produce a crop.

Pecan flower buds are hardier and trees aren’t disease prone here in NE Ohio. I’ve only seen 3 pecan tree here other than mine. Not like the south where they are common. 176 day growing season here so we get small but reasonable sized easy to crack pecans.

So, if there is a Carpathian cultivar that is late to bloom that’s what I’d choose. Size and quantity of nuts matters little if the flower buds freeze off. I don’t know if there is such a cultivar but it would be the most important question to me.

The other problem I have is some fungal disease which may not occur in your area. I spray Ortho fruit tree spray but it doesn’t stop it. It is probably leaf blotch or rust. Here, almost all buckeye and horse chestnut trees get the same thing which results in a rusty leaves by August and a defoliated tree by early to mid September.

Other than Grimo Nursery in Ontario, many of the nut growers have passed on or gave up. I’m referring to online or catalog. Grimo specializes in nuts and sells multiple Carpathian varieties. I’ve had good luck with their trees (pecans, black and hybrid walnuts) but never bought a Carpathian from them. A place like that should know what grows best in your soil type and climate.

There seems to be fewer places to buy nut trees. I just looked at Stark Bros online and they didn’t even list any Carpathian at this time.

Peaches were frustrating to me. Disease prone and even in orchards they’re a short lived tree. Redhaven was popular here in NE Ohio but some new cultivar had probably been developed. I think the average peach tree in an orchard only lives for 10 productive years.

[SONNY]

got 2 english walnuts here that only produce scab/scale and no nuts. They are 15 years old. 1 pecan tree --- also 15 years old acted like it was going to produce this year but didnt and the hail/wind we had a while back ripped off half of the big tree. The smaller pecan is still standing but never attempts to produce.
Black walnuts grow as weeds here. Gotta bush hog them off all the time.
as for peaches, I plant seeds all the time from some old variety my parents had and we keep them going. they are a mid sized peach and very sweet. Never had any luck with nursery stuff here.

[Eugene]

Lyle11, Thanks for the information. Willis Orchards has English walnuts for sale and will ship next spring. They also have peaches, nectaines, and white walnuts/butter nuts which I'm interested in.

There was one dying white walnut on the acreage. Local forestry officer thought canker was killing it.

1 pecan tree --- also 15 years old acted like it was going to produce this year but didnt and the hail/wind we had a while back ripped off half of the big tree. The smaller pecan is still standing but never attempts to produce.

You need a different variety pecan to cross pollinate.

Planted two different varieties of pecan trees to help pollinate each other and a much larger pecan that hasn't produced nuts.

[lyle11]

Lyle11, Thanks for the information. Willis Orchards has English walnuts for sale and will ship next spring. They also have peaches, nectaines, and white walnuts/butter nuts which I'm interested in.

I’ll have to look up Willis. It’s usually best to buy close to home. In my case, local nurseries don’t sell pecan trees but I did get my good unnamed Carpathian from a local nursery. I planted a Warren 346 pecan (originated in Missouri) in Wisconsin and it survived and grew for several years until the rootstock apparently couldn’t handle the winter temperatures that year.

There was one dying white walnut on the acreage. Local forestry officer thought canker was killing it.

I’ve never heard the term White Walnut used except in books so it must be a regional term. We always call it a Butternut. These trees are dying out rapidly. I have one grafted Butternut planted in Wisconsin that I got from Stark Bros. And it looks good but will most likely eventually get canker. The disease that is eradicating Butternuts was actually first observed in Wisconsin.

1 pecan tree --- also 15 years old acted like it was going to produce this year but didnt and the hail/wind we had a while back ripped off half of the big tree. The smaller pecan is still standing but never attempts to produce.

You need a different variety pecan to cross pollinate.

Planted two different varieties of pecan trees to help pollinate each other and a much larger pecan that hasn't produced nuts.

If they are grafted named cultivars, you also need at least one tree that is Protanderous (Type I) and one tree that is Protogynous (Type II). One sheds pollen late and the other early. So an early shedder pollinates the female flower of the late pollen shedder and vise versa. Not sure about seedlings but if you have 3-4 trees chances are they will get pollinated.

I also have 2 very nice American Chestnut trees in Wisconsin that are producing a small quantity of nuts. Isolated trees so they’ll probably survive longer being so far from their native range.

[SONNY]

got chesnut trees here that have loads of nuts on them. also hazel nut bushes.

[dgrapes59]

I have rows of black walnut trees just over my fence, on 2 different neighbors property. I think they were probably planted when it was all one quarter section. My property has been a pasture for as long as I can find. I think there are more walnuts this year than any other year, since we've owned our place. Too bad I don't like to fool with them!
Flip side, the Osage Orange trees only produced a fraction of the hedge apples as usual, and I'm not complaining
It's been terribly dry this year, but Mother Nature keeps things interesting.