You love your walnut tree as a source of shade and fruit and just can't get enough of it? Then just multiply it.
Walnut trees serve as optimal shade providers. Over the years, they can reach a tree crown diameter of up to 12 meters. A cozy seating area can be set up underneath, where you are even protected from mosquitoes. Because the tree gives off essential oils that the mosquitoes don't like at all and accordingly stay away.
Of course, the walnut tree also produces delicious fruits that can even be kept for several months if stored properly. Putting one or even more walnut trees in the garden has clear advantages.
If you want to grow another tree in your garden yourself or just want to give one as a gift, you can easily propagate your own. You have three different options for this. The first option is limited to the fruit, more precisely the walnuts themselves. However, this type of propagation takes time. Propagation via cuttings and offshoots works much faster, with the latter variant promising significantly more success.
Propagate walnut trees - 3 methods presented
» Propagation via fruits
The basis for propagating the walnut tree via the fruit is a walnut. The fruit must be freed from its green skin. A relatively fresh nut is more valuable than older walnuts. However, you should know that after the germination and growth of the tree you have grown in this way, you will not necessarily get the result that you know from the original tree. The offspring often differ in their nuts, since there is no refinement. This variant also takes some time.To start propagation directly from the nuts, proceed as follows:
- Prepare a flower pot with a mixture of sand and peat.
- Remove the green skin from a fallen fruit and place the nut in the pot.
Place the pot in a bright, sheltered spot where frost is not expected. The pot should remain here until spring, with the soil moistmust be held. - In the spring, if the nut is sprouting, the first shoots will appear.
- Wait until the shoots are about 15 centimeters tall and divide each plant into separate pots. In order to give the young trees a good start to growth, we recommend high-quality potting soil with sufficient nutrients.
- The individual pots may already be in the garden over the summer months. The location should be sunny, taking care that the soil never dries out.
- For the winter you have to place the young trees in a frost-free place, as the plants are not yet hardy.
» Propagation by cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is much faster and easier. You have the cuttings right at hand if you already own a walnut tree. You only need to cut fresh shoots from the tree at least 15 centimeters long. It doesn't matter in this case whether the shoots are still green or already show signs of woodiness.
It is best to prepare a sufficiently large bucket with potting soil. Put the cuttings in here and water the soil vigorously. Place several cuttings in a bucket if possible, as not every shoot will necessarily root.
You can easily tell whether propagation is working: if new leaves form, the cutting has started.
If you have put several shoots in one bucket, you should divide the plants that have been started into different buckets. Keep in mind that the cutting is only hardy after about two years. Putting it out in the garden is therefore not yet recommended.
» Propagation by offshoots
Propagation via offshoots is even easier than propagation by cuttings. Just look for a long shoot close to the ground on the existing walnut tree. Bend this in autumn or spring so that you can bring the middle part of the shoot into the ground. You can also anchor it to the ground with a tent peg or something similar.
Over the course of the year, roots form on the buried part of the shoot. As early as autumn, you can separate the offshoot from the mother plant under the roots and place it in the designated place in the garden.