When is walnut season

Established Walnut trees have an extensive root system and as such do not need to be watered often but for the first few seasons the tree should be watered regularly and deeply throughout hot, dry summers. In early spring you can encourage a healthy year of growth by providing a good quality mulch or nitrogen-rich fertiliser.

Walnuts must be pruned only in late autumn as they will bleed if snipped in spring. Minimal pruning is required, but branches will become large so remove any badly positioned ones early on.

A root wrapped plant should be kept outside or in a cool, sheltered place such as a shed. Kept indoors they will become confused and begin to bud early, which will damage the young plant. When the final frosts have passed, the moss and plastic wrapping may then be removed before planting. Walnut trees are hardy but may require some winter protection for the first few years.

In heavy snow or particularly severe winter weather even established trees may be damaged but are easily protected with a wrap of hessian or fleece. Your walnut tree will fruit after around five years and will produce increasingly plentiful crops as it establishes. Lotsa black slimy walnut husks in the yard and a lot of holes dug. The little tree rats pretend to bury the nuts all over the place. Black walnuts, ready to be picked! Have fun. Remember, wear gloves, or good luck washing your hands!

Derrick Mayoleth. Share this: Twitter Facebook. The trees can grow up to feet tall. As the nuts begin to ripen in the fall, you'll find a pitted shell that encases a fibrous sack that begins to split as the nuts ripen.

You can eat harvested walnuts, but they will taste different from walnuts from the grocery store. Follow these steps:. Wait until nuts with split husks begin to appear on the ground in large numbers. Then, break open a few sample nuts and check for ripeness. English walnuts are ready for harvest when the tissue between the kernel and the shell turns brown. You can harvest the nuts in one of two ways: either gather them off the ground where they fell or if you're able shake the tree to dislodge them.

The second option will give you the edge on the squirrels and bugs, who will also be eager to claim the nuts. If you decide to go the tree-shaking route, first spread out an old blanket or sheet under the tree to make your job of nut collecting easier.

Your next step is to pull the husks off to reveal the shelled nuts. The husks should come off quite easily if you're collecting the nuts at the right time of year. Be sure to wear gloves for this step because the walnut tannins will stain your hands. If you find that the husks are black and difficult to remove, that's the work of walnut husks flies, which lay their eggs inside the husks. Don't panic. Husks flies don't harm the nuts, but they definitely make removing the husks quite difficult. Rinse the shells off with a high-powered hose in order to remove all of the tannins.

Don't rinse on a concrete driveway or another surface that you're worried about staining because the tannins will likely stain the ground as they are removed.