Something to grow under Black Walnut trees

Here I have (and it's doing well) coreopsis, bearded iris, ajuga, sage, hosta, sedum (Autumn Joy), mums and a purple coneflower (although the coneflower isn't doing as well.

Really nice arrangement, just the right artistic flair to make it neat and interesting. Now if only my black walnut trees hadn't died, sob. Your rocks look just like the ones here.

I have a walnut tree at the end of my garden too. I have lambs ear/rose campion?????? planted all around the base and it blooms those beautiful raspberry blooms beautifully. I, too have sedum and also, phlox, daylilies, money plant, nasturium, 4 o'clocks, feverfew, fairy rose, shasta daisy, monarda. Your garden is much prettier than mine.

Thanks. Actually, I'd like to be rid of the black walnut trees...lol They are not my favorite and they're too big and old right now. I'd rather have them out so I can plant some smaller ornamental trees. They work for now though.

If you have any walnut seedlings, I would love to trade for about four. And mature walnut trees bring a pretty price on the market.

Man, I wish I could get rid of my black walnut tree! I want smaller ornamental trees as well! I don't eat enough walnuts to keep the tree. They are such a mess! And have you ever been hit in the head by falling walnuts??? It hurts!!!! I would really miss the shade though. I really don't want to pay to get it cut down. My husband wants to keep it, he thinks we need to have walnuts to eat and cook with, but he is not the one who has to hull them & crack them and clean them up off the ground! The kids have a swing hanging from ours so I can't plant around it.

The walnuts on our trees are bitter tasting to me. My wife and her family claim they aren't bitter, but I can tell a big difference between them and the store bought walnuts. I hate the walnuts on these trees...yuck...I really hate them...lol They put them in brownies and cookies and I can't eat them because of it.

hczone6. I just read recently, they get that bitter taste from staying in the outer husk. I was always told to leave them in that husk until it turned black then remove it & then let the nuts (in the shell) dry out. I will try removing the husks ASAP this year & see how they taste. I had a bumper crop last year, so maybe there won't be near as many this year. ( I hope!)

I think my wife's grandparents take them out of the shells as soon as they fall. Maybe that's the problem. Maybe they need more time to mature or something.

3 of my neighbors have black walnuts in their yards, all close enough to my property to have infested parts of various gardens. My dwarf bearded iris just died last year because of the root invasion. My ostrich fern had a very difficult time establishing (finally got its act together after 3 years). Many other plants didn't survive the first year: bleeding heart, roses, raspberries. One walnut tree is just about 1/2" from the property line, right under electric wires. Another year and the electric company will remove it (and charge them for doing so!) But in the meantime, my poor perennial garden! Those neighbors are slobs: lots of weeds (including trees and shrubs) where they can't be bothered to trim (along the fence line -- their fence). These continually invade my gardens. Really annoying.

I have 2 black walnut trees on my fence line, I hate them they are the messy and drop walnuts all the time, however it would cost me a small fortune to have them cut down, so i guess I'll have to deal with them for now, I heard they actually secrete a poison so it stunts other things around them from growing, and I can believe this, as everthing that grows near them is dwarfed or simply refuses to grow. Does anyone know what kinds of plants are not bothered by the walnut trees?
Thanks, Rene`

I posted above of the the things I have planted around my walnut tree. If you go to the identification forum under rose campion/lambs ear??? you will see the tree and all the stuff growing around it. I can now add poppies and yarrow to the list as well that will grow around it. The poison it gives off is jugalone (or something like that, I may have spelled that incorrectly) and Tom Clothiers website has an excellent article as to what will grow and what will not around walnut trees. Ohio State University also posted a similar article. I'm sure there are several others as well. Good Luck.

With all these unwanted trees, doesn't anyone have any seedlings? I lost mine while I was ill. Best to wait for winter to transplant, but I so want some to replace those two.

Aimee...the next time I see walnut trees coming up, they're yours. The walnut tree in my garden doesn't really get a chance to produce babies as I keep it weeded. But there are plenty of trees on the property here and if I find some walnuts that aren't too big to mail, I will send them. :-)

Oh, happy day! Can I send you something for them? Email me. I am ecstatic.

Oh heavens no Aimee...I've got to find you some first LOL

Bring those unwanted Black Walnut trees up here to NY. The lumbernen are paying BIG bucks for them for furniture stock!

I've always heard the lumber company will pay you to cut them down.

here is a link to a full list of what will grow around/under these trees. http://users.anet.com/~manytimes/page18.htm



This message was edited Saturday, May 25th 12:03 PM

While I'm not what one would call an ardant fan of black walnut trees, I certainly don't hate them. We have several and the squirrels eat the nuts for us. I seldom if ever bother to gather the nuts. We do have lots of sprouts all over the yard which we remove. I've found you will have more success if you just plant some nuts instead of trying to transplant a black walnut sprout or sapling.
We have hosta around the base of one of our trees. They seem to do fine. I lost the ferns I tried to grow there even tho they were on a list of plants that would grow under black walnut trees.