[Ice]

Just received in the post a two year old Juglans Regia walnut tree as a present.  I know it needs full sun and deep soil.  I can provide the full sun but I only have about six inches of topsoil on top of a clay pan.  Any suggestions? 

[gobs]

Just received in the post a two year old Juglans Regia walnut tree as a present.  I know it needs full sun and deep soil.  I can provide the full sun but I only have about six inches of topsoil on top of a clay pan.  Any suggestions? 

Cup and saucer?

Donno.

Usually, everything grows in clay.

[Ice]

Gobs, I saw you online and thought you would have an answer.   :lol:This is dense yellow clay subsoil and completely lifeless. 

[gobs]

Gobs, I saw you online and thought you would have an answer.   :lol:This is dense yellow clay subsoil and completely lifeless. 

I'm thinking. Is it one of these 20 m English walnuts?

[gobs]

Because my mum's walnut(different kind) is definitely on the north of the house. If it is a big one it will grow itself into sunny skies anyway. It could be a good idea finding it somewhere with a bit more top soil.

Or if it smaller - I do not know if these come in small, funnily enough I was just looking at buying one(4-5m only) - couldn't you raise the soil level somewhat by planting it through an open bottomed container?

A lot of roots will go down to Australia anyway.

[Ice]

This is it Gobs.

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=1067

[joyfull]

it will eventually be a biggy then, how good is the drainage Ice as it does state it must be well drained soil.

[gobs]

That's the one I was thinking off. Dear me! Where are you putting it?
 
Is it grafted? For it's diplomatically saying, more than 12m.

My clever book says, young trees need feeding on acidic and clay soils. We guessed that anyway.

I have to go.

[New shoot]

I know you have said in other posts you have plenty of room, but that's a masssooove tree Ice.  Nearer 30m tall by 15m wide or 100 foot by 50 foot in old money when fully grown  

If you do have room, I can only suggest digging the biggest, deepest planting hole you can and incorporating loads of manure or garden compost.  The roots will have to deal with the clay as best they can when they reach it.

It may be a bit sacrilegious, but you could intentionally bonsai it in a large pot and root prune every 3 years or so to make a big feature bonsai.  I'm growing 2 Gingko trees with the same idea.  They were grown from seed and are in long toms at the mo as you get better growth with a deeper root run at first.  Then you keep cutting the top growth back to thicken the trunk to get a mature look  

[gobs]

So, rightly or wrongly - I do not know your space - I am more worried about your house than the sapling.

I think, you have got a nice, common walnut there the size of houses. The good news is, nearing a 100 years of age it shall stop growing. So worry you not.

The situation is given: you have clay soil and a young tree that doesn't like it. You are going to have to feed it in it's young years.

Any container like thing for such a large tree is not workable. You can do a foot or so raised area around it for manure and feeding, but do plant at soil level. If it's grafted, this could be a non-workable thing again.

Young trees will get clorosis due to lack of trace elements, if in clay. There is feed available for this.

If you cannot plant elsewhere replace pan of clay in a larger than the rootball area about a foot deep with rich, neutral soil. This should help it through and establish in the beginning.

I can only find one serious thing: acidity, so do check ph is above 6, wherever you decide to plant. I don't think you will have this problem.
 
I can see New Shoot has just posted some of this, but I'm lazy to re-write.

[Ice]

It was a very well intentioned present and having looked at the website it is very vague about how tall they grow.   It also doesn't mention that it has been grafted.

So I need a very large hole dug well away from the house filled with decent soil, feed it until it's established and keep my fingers crossed.  My soil isn't acidic.  By the time it gets really big it will be someone elses problem as it will surely outlive me.

Would have been just as happy with a hydrangea.

[gobs]

Yep, except for fingers crossed. Once it's off, it will be well fine and fending for itself. Yield is no concern for the home gardener in my view. Any will produce that much nuts, with neglect, too, that one doesn't know where to hide them.

[gobs]

I did not mention, as I'm sure, Ice knows this well, but just for the record:

It is not just one's house, a walnut tree needs to be planted far away from, but one's precious plants, too. The roots produce a toxic chemical that is quite detremental or deadly for a great number of plants.

Lawn seems to do fine. Where it gets the light, that is.

[Ice]

So it grows into a huge, light stealing, house wrecking monster that wages toxic warfare on other plants.   I'll plant it in next doors garden then.

Thanks Gobs, appreciate your help.

[gobs]

ROFL.

Swap for cobnuts or something. Always can say then: 'Look, they mixed up their nuts! But I love it.'