The black walnut seed can just be placed any which way in the ground, unlike a bulb, it knows which way to send the root and which way to send the sprout. It is important to keep the ground moist so the sprout doesn't curl on it's way up. If it does curl, the tree will end up with this crazy looking twist in it and will be unsellable, aka burned in the burn pile. *This is why during my farmers and my date night last night we had to stop and shut off the sprinklers at the nursery. :)

OK so sparing you a few details, see the big center root in the picture below. That is called a tap root. It's the main root that grows way down deep into the soil. This is one reason a walnut tree can stand up in wind and rain, unlike almond trees, which can fall over in very wet gound.

My farmer will be undercutting the tiny trees this weekend. This cuts the tap root  and forces it to shoot out roots. When the trees are pulled out of the ground in December, they will have a well-branched root system established for replanting. (I'll add a picture of the undercutting on this post later.)

           a dormant tree