direct seeding black walnut

[rweiss1110]

I did a direct seeding of black walnut on 10 acres about 19 years ago. This was state sponsored program and now the trees are about 40 feet tall and 6-8 inch's diameter about 3ft above the ground. 5 or 6 years in, the forester came out and used a 500 stick and said that we have about 3- 4000 trees per acre. I think it's to thick in the woods, but the forester keeps telling me to just leave it alone and the strong will survive. what would you do?

[TKehl]

Hard to argue with a forester who has been on site and seen the place...

BUT, if he was last there 5-6 years in, that's at least 13 years of growth he hasn't seen!   I think I would thin ones with poor form as long as I wasn't interrupting the canopy.  Then look again in a year or two and see if it would be good for more to come out.

We have a patch of BW my grandpa planted that I will be thinning along these lines.  They are really too dense right now.  However as an amateur, I proceed cautiously and would rather leave to many than take too many.  That way they keep their form and I don't have to worry as much about wind throw.  

[WDH]

At this point you should be able to recognize the dominant trees.  You could thin them so that the dominant tree crowns are getting sunlight from all sides.  Alos prune off any dead branches on the dominant trees.

Post some pics. 

[Nebraska]

@rweiss1110 I did a similar project about 15 years ago, I thinned the nut seeded trees to 6 ft more or less spacing approximately 5 years ago. It's on the list to make it a 10 to 12 ft spacing here soon as well prune a few branches. It's gonna make a pile of firewood.

[woodnie]

Listen to your forester, be patient. High quality stems are being formed. Down the road a few years there will be plenty of time to start your release. Don't make the mistake of opening them up to much or too soon.
 By just lightly releasing them they'll continue to self prune, be protected from the wind. And yes, keep  racing to the sun. Good Luck...