Training
Walnuts are trained to a modified leader: A central
leader is allowed to grow to a height of 5 or 6 feet
and is then headed to an outward growing limb. Young
walnut trees are best pruned for training in the early
spring just after the buds start to swell. This ensures
that live wood is available for establishment of the
tree's framework. As the tree grows, limbs that develop
from buds on the ends of very short shoots or from "necked
buds" tend to be weak and break out easily. Remove
necked buds to favor the development of widely attached branch
angles. |
Sketch
of a modified leader system |
