LARA

DESCRIPTION:

The Lara walnut variety has been selected in France. It comes from a selection of seedlings produced by sown nuts of the American variety Payne. This selection was carried out at the French nursery Lalanne.

Lara is a high-yield variety with compact growth, as it not only produces fruit on the end buds but also on the side buds, i.e. it bears laterally. Thanks to its compact growth habit, Lara is suitable for planting in smaller gardens. This selected early-bearing walnut variety produces large, thin-shelled nuts of excellent quality with a unique creamy taste from end of September.

Currently, due to its high productivity and good taste, Lara is one of the most popular walnut varieties in France.

Growth / crown

The Lara walnut is a slower (intermediate) growing variety compared to other walnut varieties. As a rule, it grows about 20 - 40 cm per year. Lara grows more compactly than most other walnut varieties and also stays significantly smaller. It usually reaches a height of only about 4 to 5 meters (about half that of a normal walnut tree). The beautiful, spherical crown consists of heavy branches. The trunk is light gray with deep, irregular vertical grooves.

The leaves of the Lara walnut are dark green, pinnate and alternate. They give off a light scent. The individual leaflets are about 20-30cm in size.

The Lara walnut has a compact, rather small crown volume and develops a very beautifully shaped, spherical crown. A mature Lara tree achieves a crown volume of about 24 m³ in old age. Thanks to its compact growth habit, the Lara walnut is suitable for high-density planting.

Flowering time / leaf sprouting

Lara sprouts relatively late and flowers comparatively late, so there is no danger of late frost damage. The flowering period is around mid-May, after which the fruits develop until mid-September. Lara forms green-yellow flowers not only on the terminal buds, but also on all the side shoots, which means a significantly higher yield. Its green-yellow flowers are a beautiful sight.

Pollination

Lara is a protandrous walnut variety. The male flowers appear before the females with a very short overlap, making the strain partially self-pollinating. In order to increase the yield, however, a pollinator variety is recommended. Examples of good pollination varieties are Chandler, Fernette, Franquette and Fernor.

Walnuts Bulgaria has many years of experience in planting and growing walnut saplings. To help with your plans and goals, we provide you with this online calculator. Please note that it is recommended to use 3 - 10% (of the total amount of trees) of the pollinator varieties Chandler or Fernette.

Please enter the land size in hectares below to calculate the number of trees you can plant.

Land size: (hectare)

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Yield

Lara has an early yield, regular and rich fruit load. The yield of this strain can be quite satisfying already 3-5 years after planting.

The spacing for intensive planting can vary from 4x5 to 7x8. Modern intensive planting schemes use more narrow growth forms. These are the so-called hedge grow systems and to continuously allow the sun to enter there is an increased demand for intensive pruning. Only if pruning is intensive high yields can be expected with dense spacing.

We from Walnuts Bulgaria recommend using a 4x5 m spacing scheme.

Nut quality

Lara supplies large nuts (12-14 g.), approx. 34-39 mm high and approx. 32-38 mm in width with a very fine quality. Typical for Lara walnut fruits is the almost spherical shape. The nuts are easy to crack open, the core comes out easily from the shell.

The pericarp is rather thin, little grooved, with a good suture. The nut kernel is light and full-grained (kernel content 44%). Lara has a mild, sweet aroma and a uniquely creamy taste, without any bitter substances. The oil content of the Lara kernel is 62%. The core contains very valuable omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E and high potassium content.

Harvest time

The harvest time of Lara walnut usually takes place between end of September and beginning of October (26.09. -10.10). As soon as the fruits of the walnut tree have a green-brown and cracked shell, they are ready to be harvested. Incidentally, ripe walnuts often fall from the tree by themselves. Otherwise, the tree must be shaken.

Disease, frost and drought resistance

The Lara walnut variety is both economically valuable and biologically adaptable to many soil and climatic conditions. Overall, the Lara variety is very resistant to fungal diseases. Lara has good resilience to late frosts. It is also very little susceptible to anthracnose and bacterial blight. Lara walnut tree is particularly hardy and drought-resistant, making it a tree of the future.

Height & Growth	medium to strong growing
Tree crown	spherical crown, crown volume of 24.5 m³
Flowering	late flowering - male flowers in front of female with very short overlap, therefore fertilizer species important. Vegetation and flowering later than Shejnovo - which gives it an advantage in terms of resistance to low temperatures and spring frosts.
Flowering type	Protandrous
Self fertile	partially self-fertile
Pollination	Fernette, Ronde de Montignac, Franquette, Fernor, Chandler
Terminal or Lateral	lateral bearing variation, therefore very high yields
Fruiting	very early fruit bearing, yield already after 3-5 years, very productive, regular and good cropping
Fruit	medium-to-large (10-13.4 g.), (34-39 mm high, 32-38 mm wide), round shape, larger than average size, appealing appearance
Shell & pericarp	light, slightly finned, medium thick (1.4 mm), good seam closure
Kernel	relatively light cores, fleshy kernel, easily shelled, good taste without bitter substances, unique creamy flavor
Harvest	End September / Early October (26.09-10.10.)
Oil content	62%
Kernel %	41-51%
Winter hardness	good winter frost hardness
Frost susceptibility	satisfactory resistance to late spring frost
Sensitivity to bacterial blight and anthracnose	good resistance to anthracnose, low susceptibility to to bacterial burn