Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
that many nut trees are made by grafting and thus are genetic
clones. For this reason, two different varieties of the same nut
will need to be planted unless those trees were grown from
seed, in which case two trees of the same variety will work
fine.
Nut trees can be grown from seed as long as the requisite
period of cold stratification is met to break dormancy. (Cold
stratification means exposing the seed to a period of
subfreezing temperature for a period of time. Many seeds for
trees require this or they will never sprout.) If you plant the
seed in the fall and protect it from rodents, it will sprout in the
spring. Plant it about two feet deep and mulch with hay over
the winter, then remove the mulch in early spring.
The tree should be transplanted into a hole big enough to
handle the entire root system. About 2/3 of the soil should be
carefully shoveled around the roots and then well watered and
the remaining soil shoveled in and tamped down. The area
around the tree should then be mulched to reduce competition
with weeds and the trunk protected with a circular hardware
cloth protector to keep deer and other critters from eating the
bark. (Hardware cloth is available at any hardware store at
minimal cost.)
Because nut trees have a long taproot that grows slowly, they
need to have about half of their top growth pruned back
during transplanting, leaving several buds. This balances the
upper and lower portion of the tree to enhance survivability.
New vertical-growing shoots should emerge from the buds
left behind, and when they are 8 to 12 inches long, the most
vigorous should be selected as the tree's new central leader,
and the remainder cut off even with the trunk.
