Black Walnut: My Third Signature Plant

The trees at the end of the driveway are walnut trees.

We have a grove of walnut trees, Juglans nigra, at the end of our driveway, behind the tractor shed and the barn. (That's the tractor shed on the right with the window boxes). We call the walnut grove, The Dell. We have several other walnut trees scattered around the property, including an ancient one on the east side of the house near the kitchen garden, and some younger ones in the Woodland Walk. I have a love/hate relationship with our walnut trees: I love their majestic form; I hate that certain plants wont grow under them.

These large-sized trees, native to Pennsylvania, have an impressive presence in our garden. I love the dark brown to gray-black bark with its narrow ridges. The wood is very valuable for quality furniture, for veneer, gun stocks and musical instruments. The wide, flat leaves are compound, alternate, and dark yellow-green above.

Our walnut trees provide a lush-green backdrop to the cottage garden in summer.

In the hot Pennsylvania summers, the shade of the walnut trees is very welcome to my miniature horse, Dude. Some think that the leaves of the walnut tree are toxic to horses, but the toxicity lies in the roots, and Dude has never had a bad reaction to the tree's proximity. The roots of Black Walnut  produce a substance known as juglone (5-hydroxy-alphanapthaquinone). Many plants such as tomato, potato, blackberry, blueberry, azalea, mountain laurel, rhododendron, red pine and apple may be injured or killed within one to two months of growth within the root zone of these trees.

The walnut tree on the east lawn is a shady place for Dude (and deer) to graze.

I plant all my vegetables in raised beds, so they will not be contaminated by juglone. I constantly have to think carefully before planting anything near a walnut tree. This can be very frustrating. But I do think its advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Grandchildren love swinging in the shade of The Dell.

H.H. made a swing from an old tractor seat and hung it from a branch of a walnut tree.

In autumn walnut trees are among the first to lose their leaves.

Our walnut trees have different faces depending on the season. I love all their faces.

In the winter, the black bark against the white snow is dramatic. (The snowstorm below occurred almost a year ago today. It is more like early summer here, now.)

Pretty in white. The Dell in March last year.

All the best sunrises occur behind the old walnut tree.

There was a bumper crop of nuts last year.

The nuts are encased in a green, leathery coat. The black shells inside are difficult to break. Our neighbor, Karl, would put them in a burlap bag and drive over them with his pickup truck. We don't usually attempt to get at the nuts, but offer them to anyone who wants to go to the trouble. H.H. finds another use for them. He practices his golf swing with an old golf club, aiming the nuts into the top field.

Walnuts in their green cases. They make good golf balls.

I am linking to Diana at Elephant's Eye for her 'Dozen for Diana' meme. My first signature plant was the English bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta, and my second was Echinacea purpurea, purple cone flower. Do visit Diana's wonderful garden in South Africa and join in the fun.

It's the first day of spring, today! We've had spring-like weather for so long that the day did not make me as excited as usual. There are daffodils blooming everywhere and we heard peepers today. I am enjoying making an early start in the garden.

Happy Spring!
Pamela x

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