Juglans nigra English or Persian walnut, but thrives best in the warmer regions of fertile, lowland soils with high water tables, although it will also grow in drier soils, but much more slowly. Some soils preferred by black walnut include Alfisol and Entisol soil types. Walnut grows best on sandy loam, loam, or silt loam type soils but will also grow well on silty clay loam soils. It prefers these soils because they hold large quantities of water which the tree draws from during dry periods. Visually, black walnut is similar to the butternut ("Juglans cinerea") in leaf shape, and the range
Fruit tree pruning and training can also prevent later injury from weak crotches or forks (where a tree trunk splits into two or more branches) that break from the weight of fruit, snow, or ice on the branches. Some sustainable agriculture or permaculture personalities, such as Sepp Holzer and Masanobu Fukuoka, advocate and practice no-pruning methods, which runs counter to the widespread confidence in the idea that pruning produces superior results compared with not pruning. Many books about fruit-growing assert advantages and disadvantages of pruning or not pruning, although without randomized controlled trials, it is hard to separate theorizing and traditional knowledge from