Walnut? A waste of time?

dewey69usa

The neighborhood squirrel population has taken to my yard. I have Black Walnut seedlings in all of the flowerbeds. I am currently attempting to air layer one in a clay pot. Should this work? If so, I plan on keeping this tree somewhere around 12-14 inches tall. I do not recall ever seeing a walnut bonsai, so maybe it a fruitless endeavour.

If the layering works, I can keep my flowerbeds intact and gain at least 10 new trees.

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TreeBay

I'd say waste of time. Although they're compound, walnuts have very large leaves. If you had a 100-year-old stump that had been browsed by cattle and was naturally dwarfed it might be worth cultivating, maybe for winter display. But for propagation, you can do much better.

Regards,

Matt

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dewey69usa

Thanks, I read other posting regarding compound leaves so I assumed as much. Still may play with them some before stiking them in the ground somewhere else beside 2 feet from my foundation.

Jeff

Jerry Meislik

If you get it to work please post pictures so that we can all learn from your effort.
Jerry

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rockm

Black walnut not only have huge compound leaves, but they send out strong single and very ugly looking shoots that confound bonsai practices. The smaller the tree, the bigger this problem is.A 12 to 14 inch black walnut bonsai will look ridiculous, unless it has a very substantial trunk (over 6 inches in diameter--NOT circumference--at soil level) Even then, you're left with the shoot problem. They aren't worth the trouble.

Will_Heath

I have went on record before stating that I think compound leaved trees are underrated. They have an inherent beauty that should be showed in bonsai form, granted smaller sizes will most likely never work. I also understand that not many share this opinion. I am currently working with Walnut, Honey Locus, and Mountain Ash to see where they lead me.

Remember that trees don't make bad bonsai, people make bad bonsai. Maybe we just haven't reached the point where we can understand compound leaves and the trees that have them enough to bring the form to bonsai.



Will

John Dixon

I hate being negative, but I think walnut is a species of tree that will not make convincing bonsai. Some people like water-chestnut for bonsai (which has even bigger foliage), but I have never seen one I like.

Will mentioned honey locust and mountain ash. I think these two have possibilities, but alas, I think any walnut is best kept in the ground for making nuts.

Sorry to be negative, but maybe it will save you some frustration.

John

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Si vis pacem parabellum

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EarthgirlOK

Oh, come on, Will-some trees make bad bonsai.

Like Redbud for example. I ignored Mark's advice years ago and have (still) been fussing with one (down from several I started with) that will never be show quality material. It's a tree in a pot. I like it because it's a redbud, a very native tree, and I love redbuds. But it sucks as a bonsai. Just to be clear and argumentative. I haven't picked on you enough lately.

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rockm

"Remember that trees don't make bad bonsai, people make bad bonsai."

Not really true. Trees can make extremely mediocre bonsai. A certain amount of predetermination is involved in choosing a species for bonsai. If you take certain things into account before using them, they can be managed. That management won't make them great, or even mediocre, bonsai, though. It will make them less comical.

I have nothing against compound leaves in bonsai, but recognize that such trees (and vines, I have several wisteria and have worked on them for years--despite their inherent awkwardness) are mostly pretty ugly for most of the growing season.--unless you are extremely talented or have extremely nice large stock to begin with.

The secret to working with compound leaved species is simply size. The bigger the better, all to minimize those big leaves.