PRUNING WALNUT, PECAN AND HICKORY NUT TREES
For the most part these nut trees do not require heavy pruning. Superfluous branches, dead limbs, and unsymmetrical ones, should be removed from time to time while the trees are young and becoming established. A uniform top is desirable. The pruning is begun when the trees are 2 or three years old by removing the lowest branches. The rule is to cut away only one branch a year. But trees making a very strong growth may stand more pruning and those making a poor growth may need none.
Cultivation and other orchard practices may be greatly simplified in commercial plantings by pruning and training the tree heads to heights of six or eight feet. Even then the lower branches will ultimately be pressed downward by the weight of nuts and foliage when bearing begins.
Regular annual pruning is required generally to prevent the limbs from interfering with orchard practices. Furthermore, branches lower than six or eight feet high, should be subdued by cutting back while the trees are young. These limbs should be removed ~only~ when the trees have become anchored strongly enough in the soil to prevent the directions of the trunk being influenced by the prevailing winds.