Walnut tree - bark pes/ disease ?

[AlexPB]

Hello 

I have a lovely walnut tree - just strated to produce nuts last year - now in full leaf but with significant bark damage. Does anybody have any ideas on cause or treatment ? All advice gratefully received 

Many thanks

 

[Stubby]

1 minute ago, AlexPB said:

Hello 

I have a lovely walnut tree - just strated to produce nuts last year - now in full leaf but with significant bark damage. Does anybody have any ideas on cause or treatment ? All advice gratefully received 

Many thanks

 

Looks like its been " topped out " in the past and that is an old wound from then .

[daltontrees]

Walnut is high up my list of species that don't recover from pruning wounds.

 

If the cause is butchery the treatment is to hope.

[Baldbloke]

Walnut is high up my list of species that don't recover from pruning wounds.
 
If the cause is butchery the treatment is to hope.

That’s really handy to know as I previously planning on squaring up our young Walnut tree this autumn. Won’t be touching it now[emoji1303]

[shillo]

It does look like its been topped, squirrels have chewed the regrowth by the looks of it.

[agg221]

11 hours ago, Baldbloke said:

That’s really handy to know as I previously planning on squaring up our young Walnut tree this autumn. Won’t be touching it now

What size cuts were you planning?

Walnut can be lightly pruned, particularly formative pruning, but I have found it takes a long time to heal. I keep cuts on mine below 2", ideally below 1", and they will take 3-4yrs to heal over. Pruning is midsummer so pretty much now. I will be taking a few low side branches off of ours this weekend as they are grafted trees of varieties specifically selected to produce nuts but also grow large enough to produce decent timber so I want a clear 8' stem.

 

On the original picture, it does look like bark damage and I would agree with squirrels. I have noticed that when there is a wound it doesn't compartmentalise off immediately on the edges of the damage but tends to go a fair way back. Someone with a badly driven dumper caught the base of one of mine and scraped off a 3" wide section of bark. It is recovering but it died back 6" wide before it started re-growing. The pruning wounds from side branches tend to lose bark below on the main stem before they heal, unlike say an oak or an apple where it will just callus straight over around the edges of the damage. This appears to be what has happened in this case. There is no sign of unhealthy leaves so I would say it is recovering. There isn't much you can do to stop it happening again, other than trap or shoot the squirrels.

 

Alec

Edited June 26, 2021 by agg221

[Baldbloke]

What size cuts were you planning?
Walnut can be lightly pruned, particularly formative pruning, but I have found it takes a long time to heal. I keep cuts on mine below 2", ideally below 1", and they will take 3-4yrs to heal over. Pruning is midsummer so pretty much now. I will be taking a few low side branches off of ours this weekend as they are grafted trees of varieties specifically selected to produce nuts but also grow large enough to produce decent timber so I want a clear 8' stem.
 
On the original picture, it does look like bark damage and I would agree with squirrels. I have noticed that when there is a wound it doesn't compartmentalise off immediately on the edges of the damage but tends to go a fair way back. Someone with a badly driven dumper caught the base of one of mine and scraped off a 3" wide section of bark. It is recovering but it died back 6" wide before it started re-growing. The pruning wounds from side branches tend to lose bark below on the main stem before they heal, unlike say an oak or an apple where it will just callus straight over around the edges of the damage. This appears to be what has happened in this case. There is no sign of unhealthy leaves so I would say it is recovering. There isn't much you can do to stop it happening again, other than trap or shoot the squirrels.
 
Alec

It’s not the prettiest stem so would’ve needed some fairly drastic pruning to get it more symmetrical. It’s also a young tree at 14 years old. Since the leaf buds only opened a couple of weeks ago (NE of Scotland) it follows that it’s relatively short growing season could further compromise it if I were to start pruning it. I think I’ll leave it well alone.[emoji1303]

[Khriss]

Yup, squirrel damage, not a good outlook rely  😬 K