# Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)

> Rich, strong-flavored nuts and the most valuable timber in the East, on a fast-growing tree for big spaces.

Also called eastern black walnut, American walnut. Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-walnut/

![Black walnut (Juglans nigra) crown and compound leaves seen from below](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/black-walnut-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: R. A. Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Juglans_nigra_SCA-0322.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Large tree
- Mature height: 70 to 100 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 4 to 9
- Grows wild in: Floodplain forests and rich moist slopes
- Native range: 33 states and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), north to [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), south to [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL) and west to [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC)). Also recorded, not native, in [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI) and [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT)
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Fast
- Flowers: April to June
- Fruit: Nuts, September to October
- First crop: About 10 years (a few nuts at 4 to 6; large crops from 20 to 30)
- Mature spread: 50 ft
- Traits: Edible, Wildlife value
- Sold as: Saplings, Nuts

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Black walnut grows quickly on deep, fertile, well-drained soil and can reach sawlog size in a lifetime. The roots release juglone, which suppresses tomatoes, apples and many ornamentals, so keep it out of the vegetable garden. We sell nuts and seedlings from heavy-bearing parents. A natural choice for a nut grove or a timber planting far from the garden.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Young black walnuts on the best ground put on three to four feet of height a year. Our growth estimator models the tree at nearly three feet a year, its rate for a fast grower. In a yard expect 70 to 100 feet, while forest trees on the best sites reach 100 to 120 feet with trunks 30 to 40 inches through. The crown spreads 30 to 50 feet. Trees typically live 150 years, and the oldest known has been ring-counted to 260.

An open-grown tree may drop a few nuts at 4 to 6 years old, but large crops wait until 20 to 30 years. The best bearing starts around 30 and continues for another 100 years, with a good crop perhaps twice in 5 years. Each nut sits in a round green husk up to 2 inches across. Nigra means black, for the dark bark and the stain the nuts leave.

It grows wild as scattered trees from Vermont and Massachusetts west to southern Ontario, Minnesota and Nebraska, and south to Oklahoma and central Texas.

## How to grow Black Walnut

Black walnut wants full sun and deep, average soil that drains, ground that grows good corn. At full size it needs 50 feet from the house and the vegetable garden. Set trees 30 to 60 feet apart.

Plant while dormant, between leaf fall and bud swell. Saplings ship bare-root or in tall pots that keep the taproot straight. Dig wide but no deeper than the roots, hold the root flare at grade, and backfill with what you dug. Sow nuts in fall, husks off, two inches deep under pinned hardware cloth, or squirrels take them all.

Water weekly through the first summer when rain is short, and mulch a wide ring off the bark. Voles girdle young walnuts under snow, so sleeve the stem until the bark roughens, and cage against deer. Prune in late summer, because spring cuts bleed.

A lone black walnut can set nuts from its own pollen, but its catkins usually shed when its own flowers are not ready. A second walnut nearby improves the crop. The taproot goes down fast, so plant small trees and leave them be. Roots, husks and leaves release juglone, which kills tomatoes, potatoes, apples and blueberries nearby. Anthracnose drops leaves early in wet summers. Thousand cankers disease has reached the East; watch for a crown thinning from the top. Seedlings usually bear their first real crop at around ten years.

## Sources

- [USDA Forest Service, Silvics of North America: black walnut](https://research.fs.usda.gov/silvics/black-walnut)
- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Juglans nigra](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/juglans-nigra/)
- [The Morton Arboretum: black walnut](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/black-walnut/)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Juglans nigra, JUNI](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/plant-profile/JUNI)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Guide: black walnut](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_juni.pdf)
- [USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet: black walnut](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_juni.pdf)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Juglans chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/j/at_download/file)
- [USDA Fire Effects Information System: Juglans nigra](https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/jugnig)
- [Missouri Department of Conservation field guide: Black Walnut](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/black-walnut)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: black walnut, Juglans nigra](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=32)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Juglans nigra](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=JUNI)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 3: Juglans nigra](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500721)
- [USDA Forest Service, North Central Research Station: Cecich, Floral biology and pollination of eastern black walnut](https://www.nrs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/walnut/p79_89.pdf)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Black walnut toxicity](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/black-walnut-toxicity/)
- [Randolph and others 2013, Castanea 78: 2-14, Status of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) in the Eastern United States in light of the discovery of thousand cankers disease](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/45036)
- [USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Climate Change Tree Atlas (retired March 2026](https://web.archive.org/web/20250325010633/https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/atlas/tree/resources/lhdr/lhdr_602.html)
- [Ontario's old growth forests, Michael Henry: Ontario's oldest trees, updated February 2025](https://www.oldgrowth.ca/oldtrees/)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Juglone: which plants a black walnut poisons, how far its reach goes, and what to plant beneath it](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/juglone-what-to-plant-under-a-black-walnut/index.html.md)
- [How fast native trees grow: a year’s growth by species, soil and sun](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/how-fast-native-trees-grow/index.html.md)
- [Six trees not to plant near a house, and what to plant instead](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/trees-not-to-plant-near-a-house/index.html.md)

## Related

- Other walnuts (Juglans) we grow: [Butternut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/butternut/index.html.md), [Little Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/little-walnut/index.html.md)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Bitternut Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bitternut-hickory/index.html.md), [American Beech](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beech/index.html.md), [Yellow Buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellow-buckeye/index.html.md) and [Southern Shagbark Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/southern-shagbark-hickory/index.html.md)
- Under its canopy: [Wild Black Currant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/wild-black-currant/index.html.md), [American Hornbeam (Musclewood)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hornbeam/index.html.md) and [Spicebush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spicebush/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Sugarberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sugarberry/index.html.md), [Nutmeg Hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nutmeg-hickory/index.html.md), [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) and [Swamp Chestnut Oak, select line](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/swamp-chestnut-oak/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Black Walnut, add ?species=black-walnut with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 4, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=black-walnut&zone=4&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Black Walnut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=black-walnut): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Transplant planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=black-walnut): whether Black Walnut can be moved and what the move takes, the root ball, its weight, who can move it and the months, as Markdown at that address (add caliper= or height=, month= 1 to 12 and soil= sandy, loam or clay)
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Black Walnut as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=black-walnut (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Black Walnut is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=black-walnut (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Black Walnut needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 2 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=black-walnut:2
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Black Walnut where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=black-walnut&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Black Walnut goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=black-walnut&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Black Walnut flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=black-walnut