My massive black walnut tree has demeanour issues .
With the help of hordes of fruitcake - addled squirrel , it drops a deal of detritus and smear the concrete with hulls and shell . I contain my breath when hoi polloi walk their dogs or kids through the alley , fear someone will get beaned by a en . My neighbor calls my Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree a roughneck , which is an understatement considering it has been slowly murdering her white birch . Please do not embed a white birch anywhere near a black walnut tree tree .
I have scrimy regard for this tree after 15 years of living with it and suffering unnumbered plant fatalities . This is a tree that defends its sod and wo n’t cohabitate with just any plant . If you have a black walnut tree , I can recite you that besides the plants mentioned in the September / October issue ofNorthern Gardener ® magazine , there are some beautiful shrub that are tolerant of juglone , the compound produced by mordant walnut roots , leaves and nuts .
A black walnut tree looms large and isn’t the most hospitable neighbor.
I have a row of lilac and arborvitae growing under my black walnut tree , despite the amount of shade switch by the tree . They provide skittle alley test for me and must get just enough sun for themselves from the open back street space . Last year I planted a cluster of Arctic Fire dogwood within the blackened walnut ’s dripline , and they ’re doing just all right . In fact , the dogwood bush are menaced more by roving bands of rabbits than the walnut tree tree diagram . ( If one sometimes goes out the back room access in one ’s bathrobe to plunge a garden clog dancing at a rabbit , does that make one eccentric ? Asking for a friend . )
There ’s a ripe sunburn bush , or genus Euonymus , under the black walnut ’s drip line - though it ’s old and gnarly enough that I think it ’s more of a “ tree form ” burn bush than , well , a bush . I ’ve had some achiever with weigela , so I ’ve get a couple of the Tango sort , with their lovely Bourgogne foliage , and a unexampled clustering of My Monet weigela . These are stunning dwarf shrubs with variegated foliage and pink flowers , and they ’re among my favorite Modern additions .
Serviceberry is a dear associate tree diagram or large shrub for a chiliad with a grim walnut tree , and I ’ve just add a cultivar called Standing Ovation for a spot under exponent lines . It has a columnar shape and grows to about 15 foot . I ’m not concerned about it being on the outer sharpness of the walnut tree ’s dripline , but I am worried it go too much shadiness from a mature nearby crabapple . Wish me lot — I’m emotional to have a beautiful serviceberry for spring flower , summertime fruit and fall color .
Bottom personal line of credit , there are plenty of great bush option if you have a fatal walnut on or near your place . Do research before bribe and plant anything . Check several lengthiness sources and look for a consensus public opinion about juglone tolerance if sources contravene . Check out the University of Minnesota Extension Service ’s publishing , “ The respectable Plants for 30 Tough Sites,”www.conservancy.umn.edu . Other extension service that offer skillful black walnut info : Pennsylvania State University , www.extension.psu.edu , Iowa State University , www.hortnews.extension.iastate.edu , and the University of Wisconsin , www.hort.extension.wisc.edu .
Susan Barbieri is a St. Paul writer and longtime diarist who has sour for a miscellanea of local and national issue , including the St. Paul Pioneer Press , Minneapolis Star Tribune and Minnesota Monthly .
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