Butternut Tree

Six years ago I planted 12" seedling, and this year one of them has produced nuts. All I have read, tells me that it takes 20 years for the butternut tree to produce?????

Don

 

Just another example of how plants vary. Or it was grafted rather than raised from seed.

 

I have six nuts that I would like to plant next year. What should I do to prepare them for planting in the spring?

 

I'd plant them now.

 

I just noticed that you are from Edmonds, Wa.! I have a friend that lives there. He works in the postal office there.

How deep should I plant the nuts?

 

Probably not more than 2-3 times their diameter. Do squirrels disperse them? How deep they plant them would be a pretty good indication of what works.

 

actually, I recently planted a butternut tree in my yard. I hear they succumb easily to disease. is there anything you can do to prevent this?

 

The true Butternut Juglans cinerea does, and it is incurable. However, its hybrid with the closely related Japanese Walnut J. ailantifolia (hybrid name Juglans × bixbyi) is resistant to the disease; apparently, many (if not most) of the surviving 'butternuts' are actually this hybrid. I'll see if I can dig out the reference later.

 

Hybrids between butternut and heartnut are called buartnut.