Walnut

WALNUT - Juglans regia

This type of walnut tree was first brought to Britain centuries ago.

A native of S.E. Europe and westwards across central Asia to China, it is one of 21 species of walnuts.

Popular in the Middle Ages, the number of walnuts cultivated in the UK has declined dramatically.

Given the right soil and site, walnuts can grow here but are frost-tender.

Walnuts are planted at wide spacing (about 12 x 12m) like orchards or with a protective nurse crop round them.

Walnut timber is valuable and prized for making decorative furniture and gunstocks.

The ripe nuts are edible, can be pressed to extract oils or can be pickled when young.

New initiatives are highlighting the potential of growing walnuts for nuts and timber on surplus arable farmland in lowland Britain.

• a Walnut Club is run through Horticulture Research International at East Malling
• the British & Irish Hardwoods Improvement Programme is testing promising novel varieties for U.K. conditions
• and The National Forest has new walnut plots
• the black walnut (Juglans nigra) from North America shows promise as a timber tree here too.