Butternut (Juglans cinerea)

How much light does a Butternut need?

Full sun is the preferred light for butternut outdoors. The source describes that as six or more hours of direct sunlight a day. Full sun is also the only outdoor light level listed for this tree. A spot with fewer than six hours of direct sun does not meet that description of full sun.

• Light: Full sun^1,2

How often to water a Butternut

Butternut is recorded with a water range that runs from dry to medium at the low end and up to medium to wet at the top. The quoted listing describes consistently moist, well-drained soil with occasional periods of dry soil. Drainage is recorded as good, alongside moist soil and occasionally dry soil. No watering schedule is documented for this tree.

• Water: Dry to wet²

Best soil for a Butternut

Good drainage is recorded for butternut, along with moist soil and occasional periods of dry soil. The Cornell listing says it can tolerate acid to alkaline soil, from pH 5.0 to 8.0. That gives a pH range of 5–8 for this tree. Neither the drainage record nor the pH record names a soil type such as clay or loam, and no amendments are documented.

• Soil drainage: Well drained, moist and occasionally dry^1,2
• Soil pH: pH 5–8²

Hardiness and temperature

Butternut is listed for hardiness zones 3a to 7b, which covers ten half-zone steps. Zone 3a is the coldest end of the range and zone 7b the warmest. Compare your own zone with that range to see whether you fall inside it. No cited source records a minimum temperature for this tree, and humidity is not documented either.

• Hardiness: Zones 3a–7b¹

How to plant a Butternut

Butternut is a tree that reaches 40–60 ft (12.19–18.29 m) tall with a spread of 30–50 ft (9.14–15.24 m), so leave room for both. Check your own zone against the recorded range of 3a to 7b before you choose a site. Pick a spot with full sun. It is listed as native in the lower 48 United States, and its native range is recorded in 32 regions.

• Hardiness: Zones 3a–7b¹

Winter care

Cold hardiness is recorded as zones 3a to 7b, and butternut is a deciduous tree. Zone 3a is the coldest zone listed. No minimum temperature is recorded in the cited sources. Winter protection, mulching and wrapping are not documented for this tree.

• Hardiness: Zones 3a–7b¹

How to propagate a Butternut

You can propagate butternut by seed or by grafting. Grafting is the method named in the cited quote. Cuttings are not among the recorded methods. No cited source gives timing, rootstock or seed-handling steps for either method, so those details are not documented. Because the record holds only two methods, those are the two this page can describe.

• Propagation: Seed and grafting¹

Common problems

Sources list several insects for butternut, including wood borers, nut weevils, lace bugs, walnut husk flies, bark beetles and butternut curculio. Butternut canker has devastated the tree, and the cited source says there is no cure. The tree may also suffer from blight. No treatment steps for the insects or the diseases are documented.

• Common pests: wood borers, nut weevils, lace bugs, walnut husk flies, bark beetles and butternut curculio¹
• Common diseases: butternut canker and blight^1,1,2

Questions and answers

How much sun does butternut need?

Butternut grows in full sun, which the source describes as six or more hours of direct sunlight a day. That is the preferred outdoor light level and the only one recorded for this tree.

How big does a butternut tree get?

It reaches 40–60 ft (12.19–18.29 m) tall with a spread of 30–50 ft (9.14–15.24 m). Its recorded growth rate is moderate, and it is a deciduous tree.

What diseases affect butternut?

Butternut canker has devastated the tree, and the cited source says there is no cure. The tree may also suffer from blight. The same listing names several insects, including wood borers and bark beetles.