Ensuring black walnut seed germination – Prior to germination, walnut seeds must be exposed to cold temperatures and damp conditions. This can be achieved by planting nuts outside in the autumn or by stratifying them indoors over the winter. Planting outside In the fall, black walnut seeds should be sown around 2 inches deep in damp soil.
If you are planting more than one seed per hole, space them out so that it will be easy to remove undesired seedlings in the future. Developing indoor strata Place walnut seeds in a damp combination of sand and peat moss and then store them in a cold spot to stratify them. You may keep them in plastic containers or food storage bags in the refrigerator.
The stratification procedure takes between 90 and 120 days. Check your seeds occasionally to ensure they have not dried out. They may be retrieved from the refrigerator and planted in the spring after stratification.
Where can black walnuts thrive the most?
Native Range – Black walnut normally grows as solitary trees or in small clusters throughout the central and eastern United States. In the Appalachians and the Midwestern United States, the black walnut grows best on suitable sites in coves and well-drained bottoms.
Its natural range stretches from western Vermont and Massachusetts west through New York to southern Ontario, central Michigan, eastern South Dakota, and northeastern Nebraska; south to western Oklahoma and central Texas; east to northwestern Florida and Georgia excluding the Mississippi River Valley and Delta (28,29).
On the western edge of its distribution in Kansas, walnut is rather numerous and typically comprises at least 50 percent of the basal area in stands comprising several hectares (21). The natural distribution of black walnut. 
How To Grow Black Walnut Tree From Seed
Black walnuts resistant to deer – Deer do not often consume black walnuts because their nuts are too difficult to shatter. Additionally, black walnuts provide an excellent cover aroma against deer and other wildlife. Their shells emit a strong odor that is irritating to deer.
- Deer also consume tiny walnut seedlings and sprouts from tree stumps.
- The majority of the time, deer will leave black walnut trees alone after the plants get woody.
- To safeguard your young walnuts, you may use tree guards, shelters, bud caps, wire cylinders, and netting.
- Once your trees have reached maturity, you can remove the coverings.
Nevertheless, there is one alternative: deer can kill your black walnut trees. Typically, bucks and antlers are rubbed against the bark of trees by deer. This habit, if left uncontrolled, can cause damage to the tree, ultimately leading to its demise. During the winter, deer can also feed from your black walnut trees.
- During this period, a deer’s diet consists of woody components, such as twigs, bark, and leaves.
- Deer should thus be kept away from black walnut trees.
- Deer may be kept away from your young walnut trees by using a repellent.
- However, you must vary your repellents so that deer do not become accustomed to them.
In addition to repellents, try fencing your property to entirely exclude deer. Ensure you select a fence that is at least 8 feet tall. If you want to utilize a shorter wall, ensure that it is double or slanted.
What creatures consume black walnuts?
Black Walnut Trees provide animals and humans with an abundance of goodies. My connection with black walnut trees is ambivalent. We had a swing in one of two extremely tall black walnut trees along the lane when we were children. We could extend a considerable distance.
- I felt like I was flying, I thought.
- In the autumn, though, walnuts fell from the sky, and we girls were required to don gloves and collect them, scattering them in the road so that car tires would crush the pulpy hulls before we used hammers to split open the hard shells and extract the delectable nut kernels.
Gloves were required to handle the hulls. Otherwise, hands and tools were also covered with a difficult-to-remove dark brown stain. Despite the pulpy coating and strong shell around the nut kernels, they are a valuable food source for squirrels, raccoons, turkeys, and bears.
Walnuts, like many other nuts, supply the protein, carbs, and fat essential for hibernating animals to store energy. Walnuts yield harvests of varying sizes. In some years, there are so many walnuts that we may fill countless buckets with them for processing, leaving some for animals, of course. Occasionally, like as this year, the walnut yield is rather meager.
In a windstorm, I once drove a rental automobile through a vast forest of black walnut trees. It began to shower walnuts on the automobile. I was certain the automobile rental company would find dents for which I would be accountable, yet as hard as those walnuts hit the car, they were unable to create any dents.
The odor of walnut hulls and leaves is immediately identifiable. I find it intriguing yet irritating; I would not recommend walnut hull-scented bed sheets! This stench is due to the polyphenols that the tree exudes. As you may be aware, when this polyphenol leaches from a tree, it regulates what grows or does not grow nearby.
If you intend to plant shrubs or flowers near a walnut tree, you should conduct study to determine which species are unaffected by this polyphenol. When squirrels plant walnut seedlings in my gardens, this scent helps me recognize them. If I discover the seedlings during the first season, they are simple to remove.
If the seedlings conceal until later in the summer, it is quite difficult to eradicate them due to their strong roots. At this time of year, you’ve likely observed that certain walnut trees are adorned with silken web bags. The bags house the larvae of autumn webworms. I’ve observed fall webworms’ egg sacs in hickory and cherry trees, but they appear to favor black walnut trees in our region.
These nests are distinct from the springtime tent caterpillar nests. The fall webworm larvae consume the leaves contained in the silk bags, causing certain trees to lose a portion of their leaves earlier than usual. Do these larvae cause damage to trees? No.
- Mature trees have accumulated sufficient energy to continue living in excellent health.
- I have never observed autumn webworms in the branches of relatively young trees, which may create a growth setback.
- Occasionally, black walnut trees are planted as “money in the bank.” Perhaps the individual who planted the walnut trees will not benefit, but the following generation may sell them for timber.
In addition to furniture, the wood is used for flooring, veneer, and gunstocks. Indeed, black walnut trees are intriguing. I wish you well in your search for black walnut trees. They may be cultivated or grown naturally in a hedgerow or uncultivated field: Black Walnut Trees provide animals and humans with an abundance of goodies.
Toxic ooze – The fruit, leaves, and roots of black walnut trees contain juglone, a toxin that has a destructive effect on the roots of other plants. Ingestion of even a little quantity of pure juglone can induce severe poisoning in humans. Inside the tree, juglone is a harmless transparent liquid called prejuglone.
If the tree cells containing prejuglone are broken, cut, or otherwise wounded, the prejuglone is instantly oxidized into its poisonous form, juglone. This may be observed by slicing open the husk of a tiny walnut. As soon as the cut area is exposed to air, it turns from green to dark brown, and the clear prejuglone swiftly oxidizes into dark, reddish-brown juglone.
Insects, illnesses, and mechanical damage can trigger the oxidation of prejuglone into its hazardous form. Over time, walnut roots, leaves, and buds naturally release juglone into the soil, functioning as a protective chemical and pesticide for the tree.
Eat black walnuts rats?
Because rats are real scavengers, it is commonly believed that they will consume nearly everything they come upon. However, not everything that rats locate and consume is nutritious. Therefore, as the owner of a pet rat, you may ask if rats can consume walnuts. 
