I purchased several acres of commercial property 4 years ago in SW Ohio with two acres of walnut trees. I was told they were planted in the late 70's. 115 total, ranging in size from 8"-14" in diameter 2' from the ground. I was recently approached by a land developer that wanted to purchase most of these trees for transplanting on a residential development in Northern Kentucky. He claims to have the equipment, trucks and experience for the operation. Is it even possible to transplant/transport a tree of this size 150 miles away? He has already offered $350.00 per tree and he does all of the work. I need to clear the trees regardless for a new building we have planned but I was just curious if this guy knows what he is doing!

Greetings Bart:

It's really not practical to transplant such large diameter black walnut trees -- it's extremely expensive and time-consuming, and the spading operation will ultimately remove way too much root system to support the above-ground biomass of the transplanted trees. Thus, this process will most likely result in complete failure.

We have a huge stand of 2,000 Walnut trees in this size range and would like to thin them out substantially. We are considering transplanting some of them to nearby acreage, but would also consider selling them. Bart and Jay, we would greatly appreciate any contacts or guidance you might have on this. Thank you.

Hi Lee:

I responded to you directly via email. However, I'll post my generalized response below for others to reference:

if initially planted 47 years ago (1975), are more than likely way beyond transplanting size (i.e., the amount of root system removed during spading operations would be way too large to support the above ground biomass once said trees are transplanted to a new location). Your best bet – based solely on the information you’ve provided – is to conduct a commercial or pre-commercial thinning operation (release) based on the expert guidance of a professional forester, but only “after” the experienced forester has conducted a thorough on-site inspection along with collection of basic tree inventory data (residual spacing, crown competition factor, ave. diameter, etc.). Getting involved with your local state chapter of the Walnut Council is also a great opportunity to learn more about managing established black walnut plantations: https://walnutcouncil.org/ Technical Resources: Manager’s Handbook for Black Walnut (includes Crown Competition Factor calculations): https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/Publications/pdfs/ForestsLandWater/ForestCertification-Pub/ForestMgtAndNorthCentralMgtGuidelines/BlackWalnut.pdf WI-DNR Black Walnut Silviculture Guide: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/ForestManagement/24315_45.pdf