I have previously heard that black walnuts tend to grow rapidly. We
planted one last year and it only grew about 2 inches, which is not
totally unexpected given that it was probably using a lot of its
energy to grow a taproot. It has now been over 3 weeks since the last
frost. All of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell). Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year? It is in partial
sun because we have 3 maples on the easement that provide some shade
during particular times of day. Hopefully that won't have an overly
negative effect on it.

of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell).
Buds would have been formed last year and not now.

Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year?

If I was in your area I would look at the tree for you. I would use a
SHIGOMETER to determine the trees vitality.

A
good article on rhizosphere is he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/RHIZO.html

Pruning he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning/

Planting he
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/sub1.html

More on chemistry and fert. he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html

Maybe more information then you want?

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

I also took soil samples from about Black walnut trees in old growth forest.
This could be a guide as to what elements may be lacking. I would be
willing to share the data.

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.


wrote in message
...
I have previously heard that black walnuts tend to grow rapidly. We
planted one last year and it only grew about 2 inches, which is not
totally unexpected given that it was probably using a lot of its
energy to grow a taproot. It has now been over 3 weeks since the last
frost. All of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell). Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year? It is in partial
sun because we have 3 maples on the easement that provide some shade
during particular times of day. Hopefully that won't have an overly
negative effect on it.

For example.

I tested two areas of old growth with very mature black walnut trees. Two
soil sample were sent to Cornell for testing.
First the pH was 6.99 and 6.86. I would think this would be a good target
for soil pH in the upper four inches of soil. This place was untampered
with and the walnut trees were huge. I have results for the two test for
some of the essential elements. It might be more data than you wanted.
Example. These are available essential elements at pounds per acre.
The essential element iron was 0.7 and 0.5
The essential element phosphorus was 0 and 12.1
The essential element potassium was 581 and 316
The essential element magnesium was 573.5 and 343.3
The essential element calcium was 7417 and 4817
The essential element aluminum was 934.8 and 603.4
The essential element manganese was 54 and 55.7
The essential element zinc was 2.13 and 2.17
The essential element copper was 10.9 and 6.3
The essential element nitrogen in the form of nitrate (NO3-N) was 82.22 and
31.11

I also have a list of acid soluble essential elements.
These numbers would represent optimum fertility levels taken from old growth
forest. What the trees had without impact of humans. The results varied
greatly from different sites with different species. We need to stop
fertilizing our trees as if they were corn. Fertilizers are salts of
essential elements.

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

Sorry

The soil samples for black walnut were in old growth in Indiana.

--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

I... ummm.... I know how to spell the word "tree." Does that count
for anything? You'll have to forgive me. I majored in econ in
college and am in law school right now. The rhizosphere article and
the chemistry article were both a little over my head. I also could
not afford such a device as a shigometer. Is there some cheap
alternative to using such an expensive device to test my soil? I live
in Michigan, and don't think you want to drive all the way from PA.
Thanks for all the info though

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 15:13:23 -0400, "symplastless"
wrote:

of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell).
Buds would have been formed last year and not now.

Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year?

If I was in your area I would look at the tree for you. I would use a
SHIGOMETER to determine the trees vitality.

A
good article on rhizosphere is he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/RHIZO.html

Pruning he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning/

Planting he
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/sub1.html

More on chemistry and fert. he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html

Maybe more information then you want?

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

Maybe you could locate a good arborist in your area that has a SHIGOMETER.

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

wrote in message
...
I... ummm.... I know how to spell the word "tree." Does that count
for anything? You'll have to forgive me. I majored in econ in
college and am in law school right now. The rhizosphere article and
the chemistry article were both a little over my head. I also could
not afford such a device as a shigometer. Is there some cheap
alternative to using such an expensive device to test my soil? I live
in Michigan, and don't think you want to drive all the way from PA.
Thanks for all the info though

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 15:13:23 -0400, "symplastless"
wrote:

of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell).
Buds would have been formed last year and not now.

Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year?

If I was in your area I would look at the tree for you. I would use a
SHIGOMETER to determine the trees vitality.

A
good article on rhizosphere is he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/RHIZO.html

Pruning he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning/

Planting he
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/sub1.html

More on chemistry and fert. he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html

Maybe more information then you want?

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding
us
that we are not the boss.

On Apr 1, 10:23 am, wrote:
I have previously heard that black walnuts tend to grow rapidly. We
planted one last year and it only grew about 2 inches, which is not
totally unexpected given that it was probably using a lot of its
energy to grow a taproot. It has now been over 3 weeks since the last
frost. All of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell). Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year? It is in partial
sun because we have 3 maples on the easement that provide some shade
during particular times of day. Hopefully that won't have an overly
negative effect on it.


Yes, Black Walnuts are very late leafers. And English Walnuts are even
later.
Just about all trees, including oaks and maples are fully leafed out
here
in Northern Calif. and the Black Walnuts are just showing leaves.
Some
in colder pockets are just showing buds. English Walnuts are just
barely
showing flower buds.
So be patient and don't give up on your tree yet.
Emilie

Ah, yeah, instead of the shigometer, try this: Starting with the tip of
a branch, bend it slowly between your hands. If it's pliable, there's
hope. If it snaps like a twig, it's dead. And yes, it should have at
least some buds by now. Doesn't sound especially hopeful, sorry to say.

wrote:
I... ummm.... I know how to spell the word "tree." Does that count
for anything? You'll have to forgive me. I majored in econ in
college and am in law school right now. The rhizosphere article and
the chemistry article were both a little over my head. I also could
not afford such a device as a shigometer. Is there some cheap
alternative to using such an expensive device to test my soil? I live
in Michigan, and don't think you want to drive all the way from PA.
Thanks for all the info though

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 15:13:23 -0400, "symplastless"
wrote:

of the maples and oaks on my street are getting buds, but
the walnut appears to still be dormant (or dead, I really don't know
how to tell).
Buds would have been formed last year and not now.

Do those take later in the season to start growing, and
if so, should I expect it to grow more this year?
If I was in your area I would look at the tree for you. I would use a
SHIGOMETER to determine the trees vitality.

A
good article on rhizosphere is he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/RHIZO.html

Pruning he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning/

Planting he
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman/sub1.html

More on chemistry and fert. he
http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/shigo/CHEM.html

Maybe more information then you want?

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.