Walnuts are both healthy and tasty. People often add them to recipes. Today, we will explain how to plant and grow a walnut tree in your backyard.
The walnut tree is quite large, growing up to 25 meters tall. Its thick trunk has tough, gray bark. The tree's branches create a wide crown, about 20 meters across. Its leaves are made up of 2 to 5 pairs of oval-shaped leaflets. These leaflets are 40 to 70 millimeters long.
The leaves and flowers appear at the same time. The flowers are small, greenish, and either male or female. Both types of flowers grow on one tree. Male flowers have a six-part covering and 12 to 18 stamens. These flowers form hanging clusters.
Female flowers sit directly on the branch tips of the current year. They may grow alone or in small groups. The fruits are nuts that look like small, rounded stones. When ripe, the outer layer dries, splits into two, and falls away. Inside is an edible seed.
Walnut trees usually bloom in May, sometimes again in June. The nuts ripen in early or mid-autumn. Their size and chemical make-up can vary.
Walnuts can be grown from seeds or cuttings. Seedlings quickly grow a strong taproot in their first year. Horizontal roots develop after 4 to 5 years. Adult trees have a strong, developed root system. Wild walnut trees grow in Western Transcaucasia, China, and Asia Minor.
The largest walnut trees are found in southern Kyrgyzstan. Some types can be grown in Belarus and the Urals.