There are a few different ways to grow your own walnut trees, but one of the most popular methods is using cuttings. If you’ve ever wanted to expand your backyard orchard, here’s a simple guide on how to turn those cuttings into thriving little saplings.
Different Ways to Propagate Walnut Trees
You actually have a few options when it comes to propagating a walnut tree. While we’re focusing on cuttings today, you can also:
- Grow a tree from the actual walnuts (seeds).
- Use grafting techniques to join different varieties.
How to Propagate Walnuts Using Cuttings
Growing from cuttings is generally the quickest and easiest way to get a new tree started. That said, nature can be fickle, and not every cutting will successfully take root. My best advice? Always prep more cuttings than you think you’ll need and plant a few together in each starter pot to increase your odds. Here’s the step-by-step:
- Using a sharp, clean knife, cut off a few healthy shoots about 6 inches long. Make your cut at a slight angle. If there are any leaves still attached, go ahead and strip those off.
- Stick the cuttings into a pot filled with high-quality seed-starting mix and give them a good watering.
- Find a bright, sunny spot that stays frost-free. Keep the soil consistently moist, but be careful not to overwater—you don’t want the roots sitting in a swamp!
- To create a mini-greenhouse effect, you can drape some clear plastic wrap over the pots. Just make sure to lift it off for a bit every day to let the air circulate; otherwise, you might run into mold issues.
- After a few weeks, you should start seeing new growth and root development. If a cutting hasn’t sprouted anything by then, it’s likely a dud and can be tossed.
- Once your little saplings look sturdy and have grown a bit, move them into their own larger pots. I’d recommend holding off on planting them directly in the ground for the first couple of years.
Watch Out for Frost!
Walnut trees—especially the youngsters—are pretty sensitive to the cold. You’ll want to be extra careful to protect your cuttings from frost damage by keeping them in a sheltered, warm spot. Don’t rush to move them out into the garden too soon! Keeping your young walnut trees in pots for the first few seasons makes it much easier to bring them indoors or into a garage during the winter.
