Choosing the right nut trees to grow in Utah

Jan 4, 2025, 7:00 AM

(Larry Sagers)

Producer

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s common for Utah gardeners to grow fruit trees like peaches and apples, but what about nut trees?

While today’s yards are too small for 50-foot walnut trees, KSL Greenhouse Host Taun Beddes said, there are other options.

Pecans

One type of nut tree that often comes up in gardening catalogs is the pecan tree. Although pecan trees do get very big, they are cold hardy here.

“But the problem you run into is that they don’t ripen along the Wasatch Front because they usually require 180 to 200 frost-free days for the actual nuts to mature,” said Beddes. “So, yes, you can have a pecan tree, but 90% of them won’t ripen on the Wasatch Front.”

Some varieties that will ripen include pecan-hickory hybrids and cold hardy pecans that have been found in places like southern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

For pecan hickory hybrids, the shell is very hard, but you can still eat the nuts. For the cold hardy pecans, the nuts are usually quite small.

“So, if you want one, you’re going to want to find the cold hardy varieties that you can get, but don’t expect the store sized pecans that you find,” said Beddes. “They might be half the size.”

Walnuts

Walnuts are another type of nut tree you can grow in Utah. However, they take a bit more work to maintain.

To harvest the nuts, you have to wait for them to fall. The key for harvesting is to spray the trees. This helps the nuts come out of the husks more easily. But that’s not all as you still have to crack them open.

A variety that Beddes suggested was a Japanese walnut called heartnut. It only grows to be half the size of an English walnut, but it gives you regular sized walnut fruit that tastes very similar.

“It’s compatible with a lot of other walnut species. And so, if you have, say, a quarter acre yard and you want walnuts, you could plant Japanese heartnut at like two varieties and they would only get about 25 to 30 feet [tall] within about 20 years,” said Beddes.

Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts, also known as filberts, come in several different species. The ones sold in the stores are a European species which bloom in March. According to Beddes, they produce the biggest nuts.

“If you have a protected spot in your yard—again, say, a west exposure to where it’s out of the wind and you’re a little bit warmer—you could plant two varieties of European hazelnut … and they’ll get 10 [to] 15 feet tall.”

There are also a lot of hybrid hazelnuts between European, Asian, and American species. For these, the nuts are much hardier, and they bloom later.