Anybody here have experience with black walnut trees?

[R2elk]

@R2elk , How big do you think harvesting size should be, like diameter of the trunk?

A lot depends on what the wood will be used for. If for ornamental and carving purposes, a lot of pieces could be salvaged from one that is 10" in diameter. The bigger the diameter, the more valuable the tree will be.

I have tried multiple time to start Black Walnuts here without success. The January and February thaws followed by sub zero temps are killers.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

A friend of mine works with a local Boy Scout Camp. He was an Eagle Scout and volunteers there.
It is Very overgrown by native/other trees.
I drive past MANY, MANY thickets just like the camp. Some of the trees are invasive, some are natives, ALL are too thick to walk in between.
I heard recently on the radio that the camp was working with a company who had planned to harvest some 120 of those trees. HE told me it was closer to 1,200 trees.
I GOTTA believe that the company is harvesting the trees to sell them for lumber.
DD's just went to their local city counsel meeting this week over too many trees in their 1,300 population town tagged for removal. The city said that they will shelve it for a few months, as there is some local friction and a few signs--"SAVE our TREES," stuff like that.
I am thinking that, just like in Atlanta after the Civil War, there is building and lots of unused trees in thickets that Really need to be cleaned up.
Even Scarlett O'Hara recognized that rebuilding Atlanta needed all of that "Georgia (yellow) pine".

Around me, there are literally THOUSANDS of Princess Trees (Paulownia tomentosa) all along every single highway. They are considered a major weed tree.

From what I understand, in their native Japan, Paulownia wood (called kiri) is considered very desirable, and quite expensive. So I have often wondered why no one has ever come up with the idea of cutting trees down here and exporting the lumber. Given the price the wood is supposed to get in Japan, I'd imagine it would well offset the shipping cost.

On a more personal note, on the property line between us and out neighbors, there is a oak tree with an ENORMOUS burl on it. We have had a standing agreement with each neighbor who has lived there that, should that tree ever have to come down, the chunk with that burl is NOT to be allowed to be taken away by the tree
cutters ON PAIN OF DEATH! Given the size, it's probably a $20,000 to $40,000 burl (though the fact that an earlier neighbor's kid managed to get a dart stuck inside of it, the metal part of which is probably still there, might diminish the value somewhat.

A lot depends on what the wood will be used for. If for ornamental and carving purposes, a lot of pieces could be salvaged from one that is 10" in diameter. The bigger the diameter, the more valuable the tree will be.

I have tried multiple time to start Black Walnuts here without success. The January and February thaws followed by sub zero temps are killers.

if Black Walnut is giving you trouble, and you can find a source* you might want to look into Manchurian Walnut. That's supposed to be cold hardy down to zone 2, so it can comfortably grow in ALASKA!

*There IS a source for seeds I know of on Etsy, but as it is located in Russia, this is probably not the time to be ordering it.

 

[Jack Holloway]

Around me, there are literally THOUSANDS of Princess Trees (Paulownia tomentosa) all along every single highway. They are considered a major weed tree.

From what I understand, in their native Japan, Paulownia wood (called kiri) is considered very desirable, and quite expensive. So I have often wondered why no one has ever come up with the idea of cutting trees down here and exporting the lumber. Given the price the wood is supposed to get in Japan, I'd imagine it would well offset the shipping cost.

A friend told me years ago about the Paulownia wood here in the USA, and that some Japanese saw it and were envious of it. I think they saw over 100 year old trees, which are practically non-existent on Japan. Why they aren't being harvested and shipped there is beyond me. Much of the old growth Doug Fir timber here in the Pacific Northwest was shipped to Japan as they paid top dollar for it and, at that time, the cargo ships were pretty empty returning to Japan, so it was cheap to send stuff there. Heck, we were shipping straw back to Japan. STRAW. Not sure if the situation is the same now or not.

 

[Dirtmechanic]

A friend of mine works with a local Boy Scout Camp. He was an Eagle Scout and volunteers there.
It is Very overgrown by native/other trees.
I drive past MANY, MANY thickets just like the camp. Some of the trees are invasive, some are natives, ALL are too thick to walk in between.
I heard recently on the radio that the camp was working with a company who had planned to harvest some 120 of those trees. HE told me it was closer to 1,200 trees.
I GOTTA believe that the company is harvesting the trees to sell them for lumber.
DD's just went to their local city counsel meeting this week over too many trees in their 1,300 population town tagged for removal. The city said that they will shelve it for a few months, as there is some local friction and a few signs--"SAVE our TREES," stuff like that.
I am thinking that, just like in Atlanta after the Civil War, there is building and lots of unused trees in thickets that Really need to be cleaned up.
Even Scarlett O'Hara recognized that rebuilding Atlanta needed all of that "Georgia (yellow) pine".

The best use of Black Walnut is the display of its figure and "Flitch" cutting veneer wood (plywood skin) covers most of who would buy it. Thinner slabs are good for a table or shelf or bench type sale but its all furniture cuts. With just one tree I would consider it for personal use in the house. If you google "black walnut flitch" and go under the shopping tab you can see amazing prices while avoiding all the articles about Harry Potter Wands.

 

[ducks4you]

Wow! I didn't expect all of these great ideas, links, pictures and ideas!
Guess I expected opinions, which would have been Fine.
I,too, am wondering WHY, since the climate activists have forced us to buy lumber from Canada, we don't thin out our private shocks of forests to sell. After ALL, SO much building is using particleboard and wood chips.

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[ducks4you]

A lot depends on what the wood will be used for. If for ornamental and carving purposes, a lot of pieces could be salvaged from one that is 10" in diameter. The bigger the diameter, the more valuable the tree will be.

I have tried multiple time to start Black Walnuts here without success. The January and February thaws followed by sub zero temps are killers.

Here is one that is supposed to live in zone 4

Black Walnut Tree

Visit us to learn more about our Black Walnut Tree. Bears up to 30 bushels of nuts once established. Truly a gourmet favoriteblack walnuts have a rich flavor...

www.gurneys.com

Are you colder than that?

 

[R2elk]

Here is one that is supposed to live in zone 4

Black Walnut Tree

Visit us to learn more about our Black Walnut Tree. Bears up to 30 bushels of nuts once established. Truly a gourmet favoriteblack walnuts have a rich flavor...

www.gurneys.com

Are you colder than that?

I have tried a number of different ones that claim to be be good to zone 4. There are a couple of places around that do have Black Walnuts growing successfully but they don't survive the winters for me.

The killer is the January and February thaws followed sub zero freezes.

I had a Lilac that was supposed to be good to zone 2 which lived through 3 winters before a February thaw and freeze killed it.

 

[flowerbug]

I have tried a number of different ones that claim to be be good to zone 4. There are a couple of places around that do have Black Walnuts growing successfully but they don't survive the winters for me.

The killer is the January and February thaws followed sub zero freezes.

we had that one real early thaw some years ago (about five i think it was) where i had strawberry blooms on March 11th. then it froze hard after that. it took out most of the fruit crop for the entire state.

are you in the northern part of the state?

I had a Lilac that was supposed to be good to zone 2 which lived through 3 winters before a February thaw and freeze killed it.

often the lilac will sprout from the roots. to regenerate an old lilac tree the suggestion was to cut back 1/3 of the clump per season and then leave the suckers to grow. our own lilac tree in the NE corner has been frosted out two years in a row and we didn't have hardly any blooms at all on it. it has done a lot better since i cut away the surrounding honeysuckle trees/bushes that were smothering it. i've also let some suckers grow after trimming parts of it back. i'm so reactive to this plant that i cannot work on it without being completely covered and i don't get near it when it blooms. it is in the NE corner and that is good for me but even at the distance it is away when the wind shifts and it is blooming i know almost immediately because my nose will start running and i'll get wheezy. i love the smell and habit of these plants so it is really frustrating to me that i can't enjoy them more and Mom loves the smell and look of them too.

 

[R2elk]

are you in the northern part of the state?

Central. The altitude decreases as you move north in this state. The closer you get to Montana, the better the growing conditions are.

 

[flowerbug]

i think the following article indicates why it might be tough to get them to grow well where you're located:

Juglans ntdra L