YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
Guest post #1: What can you plant under a walnut tree?
Posted on July 19th, 2009 – 10:28 PMBy Jaime Chismar
From Tricia:
Dear Greengirls devotees,
My fingers are a flutter over the chance to tap into your incredible Greengirls community of knowledge! Hello, all you faithful participants out there. Hope you can help me with a nutty problem in my backyard while Miss Jaime enjoys her honeymoon! (Congrats, hon!)
It starts like this: My outdoor-loving husband and I have lived in a downtown condo since 2005. While we loved it downtown, we were hankering for a yard and all the wonderful gardening possibilities it affords. We settled on a great little rambler/ranch in the north suburbs and after moving in this May, we quickly started the plans for a lovely flower and vegetable garden. New to the whole gardening thing (I had never planted a thing until the summer of 2008 at Jaime’s urging), I was excited to add my favorite shrubs to the backyard as well. I can’t get enough of peonies, day lilies and hydrangeas. Oh, I was excited!
And the trees in the backyard! So gorgeous. So lovely. The most beautiful? A mature and heavenly Black walnut. … Yes. I said it, a Black walnut. I feel like the dunt-dunt-da-dah sound from the ‘Price is Right’ just played in the background.
No. I didn’t know they were toxic. I didn’t even know that they strike fear into the hearts of most gardeners. Jaime explained to me that Black walnut trees secrete a substance called juglone that inhibits the growth of other plants near them. So, here I am with the most gorgeous tree, but a broken-hearted hydrangea-filled dream.
I will never cut it down. It’s the character, canopy and soul of our cute little fenced area. We’ve even named it. (And no, it’s not “LoveHate,” although I thought about it). So, alas, we will learn to live together despite our opposing objectives, Marvin the Tree.
My questions for the Greengirls community: What plants have you found that can thrive in our climate under one of these divine buggers? What do you do with the leaves and twigs that fall? I had planned on a compost with the backyard’s fall foliage, but I’m told even that will be poisoned and therefore useless for planting. Has anyone has any luck selling the nuts? We’ve already got a ton of them and there are more coming.
25 Responses to "Guest post #1: What can you plant under a walnut tree?"
Good luck on beating the squirrels to the nuts. My mom has a stand of a dozen or so black walnut trees and it seems that squirrels come from out-of-state to run off with the nuts just as they are getting ripe.
You can still plant hydrangea, just not within 15 feet of the walnut tree. But on the bright side there are alot of good plants that will tolerate the juglone (unfortunately hydrangea are quite sensitve)like forsythia and coneflowers, rugosa roses ( maybe all the thorms would slow down the squirrels). wihort.uwex.edu/landscape/Juglone.htm has a link for what will and will not grow near black walnuts. The list is fairly long so there has to be something for most folks on it.
Hmmm, that link did not work! The site is from the University of Wi, Madison.
I noticed that there is also info from the University of Michigan under Juglone tolerant plants.
Hostas do well under a walnut tree. So do lily of the valley and ferns. All three are doing well in a small garden very close to a walnut tree in our back yard.
As for what to do with the walnuts, I’ve made wine and liqueur from the green walnuts. Here is a good article:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/nocino/
This article also has a link to making walnut wine. Both are pretty simple; the process is basically letting cut-up walnuts steep in vodka or wine with spices for about 6 weeks. The walnut liqueur is yummy on vanilla ice cream.
Don’t forget, black walnuts also make wonderful dye for wool, walnut ink, even a rich stain color! I’ve thought about gathering mine and selling small batches on etsy for crafts, but I doubt I’ll ever get around to it…
My book’s at home, but “Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota” lists several natives that do well under Black Walnuts. Our tree is only 11 years old and just began producing nuts last year - it doesn’t seem to be affecting the trees and shrubs around it yet, but I’ll be trying out some of the native plant suggestions next summer, since I know it’s probably only a matter of time…
I also have a giant walnut tree in my back yard, down the hill closer to the lake. It really is beautiful, although it has totally Super Sized the squirrels. They are the chunkiest critters I’ve ever seen, which I’m sure is also contributing to the obesity problem in the local fox population.
In any event, we have lots of virginia creepers, black raspberries, grass, creeping charlie, and assorted other plants under the walnut tree. Not sure if any of those appeal to you, but at the very least you could plant a black raspberry thicket around the tree. The squirrels will also thank you for the “moat” you placed around their castle too. Maybe it’ll keep them out of your gardens as an added bonus. Plus… you have black raspberries.
I have been experimenting with my garden under my walnut tree for the past 11 years… with some sucess with impatiens, daylilies, wax begonias (the little kind), and hostas. I’ve also decided to cheat nature by doing some container gardening in the area… being pretty diligent about pulling out the nuts that the tree rats love to bury in the containers! I put all the leaves, walnuts and pesky stems (you’ll see them in the fall) into the city compost… not my own. Every year I nurse the grass below the tree, and the quicker I get the “walnut trash” off in the spring, the better it does! Good luck - and by the way - be careful with barefeet under the tree this time of year - the stuff that the squirrels leave behind can slice your foot open! and leave nasty stains…
I have been considering planting a black walnut in my backyard and am looking for other trees that would go with it to make it more of a natural/woodsy landscape. I have “Landscaping with Native Plants in Minnesota” and highly recommend it. It offers a good selection of companion species, as Meghan mentions above, but the black walnut list does not include other trees–only understory plants and wildflowers. Any suggestions?
This list from the umn website includes some trees:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h407blkwal-tox.html
wow, you guys are great. thanks!
DEB W: i’m so glad to hear that i don’t have to swear off hydrangeas altogether! the tree is in the center right part of the yard, and i’ve got a perfect spot in the far left corner for some poms. yay!
CINDY LOU & MEGHAN: you two are so crafty! i’ve heard they are hard nuts to crack. what do you suggest?
GEOFF: i LOL’d at your chunky squirrels comment. that’s so true! i LOVE the black raspberries idea!
JENNY: you have the patience of a saint if you have been doing this for 11 years! i’m only a month and 20 days in and i was feeling beat down (until i got all these great suggestions today!) … i’m so glad to hear that you have had success with wax begonias. those are some of my favorite flowers. i’ve already found myself picking up the few leaves/twigs that have fallen. i think that sadly will become my new OCD trait. =) we sat in the yard yesterday planning our new container garden, so it looks like we are on the same wavelength. be careful with those feet of yours!
ERIN brings up a great question: what trees do well next to them, and also, do they need another black walnut to produce the nuts? hate to bring sex questions into a GG post, but we’ve got a little walnut growing not far from the big one that i think we should take down (it just won’t have anywhere to grow if it keeps going), but does the big one need it to, um, well, err … reproduce?
Ok, the link that DebW tried to post is here http://wihort.uwex.edu/landscape/Juglone.htm (she forgot the HTTP://) As for selling the nuts, I will take all you can give me, there is a family black Walnut cake I have an urge to try as well as a banana Cake that seems to cure all illnesses for me, and those black walnut are a little tough to find in stores. Here is another link to a juglone tolerant plants of all kinds http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1148.html
The walnuts DO make a great dye… and permanent dye too. Soak a 5 gallon bucket of the nuts in rainwater for several months. Boil the nuts and rainwater for about an hour. Save the water and discard the nuts. Take predampened wool (or other natural fiber like silk or cotton). Put into the dyebath and boil for another hour. I got some GREAT browns. Very deep colors. As far as gardening goes — sounds like there are options besides bricks.
Hi Tricia — My neighbor has huge black walnut trees that have definitely created a challenge spot for both of us. I found that some of the official “lists” were very helpful but some contradicted themselves.
I know what’s worked in my trouble spot, though: Lily of the valley, bleeding hearts, and in the sunnier areas, coneflowers and black-eyed susan, sedum, daisies and irises. I put a lot of inexpensive or free plants in that area so I don’t have much invested if they don’t thrive.
My neighbor tried a vegetable garden for years and every year watched the tomato plants die. Apparently the roots of a black walnut affect the soil far from the tree, and apparently juglone is the kiss of death for tomatoes.
Also, the squirrels might be a bigger enemy than the tree itself! They bury the walnuts everywhere, and have eaten bulbs or smashed the walnuts on my front porch, which is FAR from the actual tree. It’s fun to watch them, but I have to watch out for walnuts husks in the fall. They’re everywhere, and they can stain.
Trees I have within the ‘danger zone’ of the black walnut: Ash & Cedar. The Ash, of course, is probably on borrowed time with the borer’s arrival.
Underneath we have lots of ferns & some hosta. Its in the ‘woodsy’ area of the yard, so we haven’t planted anything there.
“hate to bring sex questions into a GG post”
Face it: Every one of us that deals with heirloom seeds is nothing but a perennial plant pimp. “Yo baby, I’d like to pollinate the heck out of you later tonight! /wink /wink Your bees or mine?” 
Do you remember the Green Girls plant exchange earlier this year? What a bunch of dirty girls, and I’m not talking about soil in the sandals either…
Thanks for the link, Meghan!
HELEN: that is a great idea! now i can “freshen up” all my hubby’s grubby shirts! ha!
HOLLY: so true. i’ve found little “mini trees” all over the yard. i’m guessing the squirrels are the “planting” culprit. but they are fun to watch, i agree! and i love black-eyes susans as well, so that’s great news! and like jenny, we are going to go the container garden route for tomatoes.
great link, meghan!
TRICIA: The trick is to gather the walnuts while they’re still young and green. The hulls are still soft-ish and you can cut them up with a sharp knife. Be very careful, and wear gloves. The smell of a freshly cut walnut is amazing.
thanks, cindy lou! when do they start falling in earnest?
They’re already falling in my Mpls backyard. I think July is the best time to gather them. If you can pierce the hull with a fingernail, then they’re still easy to cut. Once they start getting hard, though, it’s best to wait for next year. I started gathering nuts for this year’s liqueur in late June.
There was an article in the StarTribune on June 2 or 3 called “Good Neighbors,” which was about companions for Black Walnuts! Here’s the link: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/homegarden/46727402.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU
With all those trees hurling out nuts at my mothers house my grandmother found the perfect way to clean and crack them open: the ‘56 Hudson! she would put the nuts in a paper feedsack, then run over them with the Hudson. We kids were less production oriented we used the vice in the tool shed. But the husks need to be cleaned off beforehand and we locked them up in the toolshed until the husks were brown and mushy.
Ok, folks- there is a BIG KINK in the story on black walnuts and juglone. One I’ve never seen any expert pass on. Except me. 
(I grow lots of nut species; life member of the Northern Nut Growers Association.)
Almost NOBODY knows this- but whether juglone builds up in your soil to toxic levels depends on the SOIL, and the rate of water infiltration. On sandy soils, with a good amount of rain- the juglone just washes out, and you can grow anything; including stuff on the “impossible” list. On heavy clays- you are very likely to have toxicity problems.
So- don’t just believe the lists! If you want it- give it a try. It might grow just fine. Particularly if you water it frequently.
I inherited a black walnut tree in my Como park yard and enjoyed it for over 10 years, then it became diseased and we had to remove it. I consider my soil quite clay-like. It offered a decent sized shade canopy and I had great luck with many perennials under it incl hosta, bleeding heart, ferns, day lillies, liatris, vinca groundcover, lily of the valley, lamium hermans pride, turtleshead chelome (sp?) and often planted impatiens to fill in gaps, they did wonderful * good luck!
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
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