Re: COMPOST--and Black Walnuts
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: COMPOST--and Black Walnuts
- From: I* <I*@aol.com>
- Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 03:28:15 -0700 (MST)
In a message dated 98-03-07 18:39:45 EST, you write:
>Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra)and the closely related butternut (Juglens
>cinera) inhibit growth in most plants that try to grow beneath them. A
>chemical called juglone is diffused from the roots into the soil and leaches
>out of the fallen bark, leaves and fruit.
Good morning happy iris folks. I garden in a very old village, with
therefore, some very old trees. Among those on my small lot are 3 butternuts
- all enormous. Although I don't flirt with disaster by putting the leaves in
the compost, this inevitably happens unless I want to be doing a leaf-sort
when raking in the fall..... and the rotten squirrls bury the nuts ALL over
the garden (since that's the best diggin).
ANYWAY, my point is that I can state with assurance that the following plants
have NO problem growing happily with juglone:
bearded irises - all types
siberians
japanese
reticulata
and hosta, daylilies, aquilega, hollyhocks, primula (all kinds), ferns,
pulmonaria, heuchera, delphiniums.
Plants that I can't grow, so gave up trying: tomatoes (not a problem.... they
sell them here), cherry/weeping cherry tree, I suspect astilbe, (although the
jury's still out whether I'm just a lousy gardener - or it's the juglone),
peppers (see "tomatoes").
In fact, the grey squirrels, red squirrels and chipmunks (aka bushy-tail rats
and striped rats) that are attracted by the nuts do far more harm than the
juglone.
Kathy Guest in
East Aurora, NY
