From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Southern WI

Last year I had moved the garden east, the neighbor has walnut trees hanging over the fence and while we trim them every year I can't stop them from getting taller. I spent monthes hauling in 5 gal buckets of horse manure and I also have a good supply of coffee grounds. I had a set back this spring when I tilled up the corner stone for a limestone foundation, there was a creamery there in 1904. I had to move the south boundry 5 ft. I have just put concrete blocks around the corner posts to make it easier for the Super to mow around and it seems,after find more stone, according to what I can find at the historical society and town elders (population 500)that my garden is directly over an old gravel road. ARE THERE ANY HOME REMEDIES TO HELP ME FINISH THE SEASON, I WANT TO MAKE SURE I HAVE SEEDS FOR NEXT YEAR. Oh yea, and does walnut tree run off have any effect on pumpkins?

8/26/2003 10:38:12 AM

Montoursville, PA

Do grass and weeds grow under your walnut tree? Light foliar feeding with kelp and fish will bring any pumpkin to finish if not sick from other causes.

8/26/2003 11:01:13 AM

Menomonie, WI ([email protected])

Walnut trees secrete a toxic chemical called juglone. It pretty much kills or stunts growth in and around the dripline area. Dont worry about seeds for next year, the wisconsin growers will hook you up. Shannon

8/26/2003 11:02:54 AM

Oz

some walnuts are toxic to plants. id like a gravel road under my soil,good drainage. if ya cant go down ,,build up.
those foundation corners could be great for corner posts for fence. building spaces usually go in 2/4/6/8/10 ft(us).
tierd levels can help.old block is cheapest.dont use landscape timbers or rr ties(arsenic and creosote).
i knew a guy who laid newspaper on his garden paths to keep weeds down. his kid developed lead poisioning.this was 15 years ago. i dont know if they changed the ink.
some soil tests might help.old buildings sometimes are used to store toxic waste in barrels.sorry if i scared ya. i grew up in a chemical mfg town. they dumped everywhere!!

8/26/2003 11:10:13 AM

Montoursville, PA

I have three English Walnuts and One American Black Walnut grown from squirrel planted seed. The grass and weeds grow right up to the trunks. There is no toxic ring at the driplines. The only killing done here is by Round-Up I placed to permit me to miss the trees with my mower. The leaves all go into the compost or get tilled into the garden every fall.

When consumed or composted PH7, by test, will be the fact that appears.

Along the way some of the fears spread by some garden writers is what a grower might expect. Just so much baloney being repeated because someone else made it into a fearful story. There is of course a grain of truth there in the articles. It should not however be a major worry to anyone.

As with any chemical realationship there may be a specific plant that is very difficult to grow in that specific relationship. Generaly however the whole fear of walnut trees and their minor secretions is just plain bull!

My black walnut is right smack dab in the middle of a huge bed full of mixed perennials. The drip line drops in on high bush blueberries and over the neighbors property line shrubs. One area that is next to and over lilacs always gets powdery mildew problems. That however comes up from the lilacs.

I think we dare relax and forget this as many other similar stories providing the ground is normally gardened away from the tree in the first place....and providing that the leaves are normally composed or tilled into the garden.

8/26/2003 12:38:28 PM

[email protected]

At this website you will find a list of known Juglone sensitive plants. Tomatoes are on this list.

Cucurbits are neither listed as tolerant nor intolerant. More research is in order.

http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/hortcult/fruits/blkwalnt.htm

Steve

8/26/2003 7:12:18 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

The house I grew up in was in a walnut grove. Each house had one or two trees. Dad kept the area around the tree clear of grass so the tree would grow better. It was a neat place to dig holes and make roads for cars. all the other neighbors let the grass grow up to their trees.

8/27/2003 12:41:47 AM

Montoursville, PA

Darn near all American Black Walnut trees of any size have been eliminated by sale to the veneer plants or destroyed when fence rows have been eliminated. Planting your waste acres into black walnut is still a great investment for your children. A good veneer log gets into some darn good money. All walnut is above average in the hardwood field.

There aren't enough left to cause anyone much of a problem.

8/27/2003 10:29:22 AM