3 good walnut varieties for the orchard
Walnuts like a dry climate, with a high summer temperature and winter chilling (down to -10°C). Late spring frosts can be a problem for some cultivars. Walnuts will grow in humid areas but there is more risk of disease. Grafted trees are more expensive to buy but will produce nuts after 3-5 years, vs 10-15 for seedling-grown trees.
Shannon
Height/spread at maturity: 15m x 12m
Growth rate: fast Most blight-resistant walnut cultivar and does well in most parts of NZ. It was also the heaviest and most consistent cropper (25kg a year, 11g per shelled nut) in NZ Tree Crop trials over several years.
Rex
Height/spread at maturity: 12m x 15m
Growth rate: medium Widely planted, some blight resistance, heavy cropper of a small tasty nut that stores well, hard to crack which is good if you have rats, doesn’t tolerate wet feet.
Meyric
Height/spread at maturity: 15m x 12m
Growth rate: fast Big tree that is prone to blight and doesn’t tolerate wet soils but is good in frost-prone areas (late to flower) and has good crops of easy-to-open sweet nuts that store well.