Ironic, ain’t it? The proper pronunciation of my heading this week reminds me strongly of the springtime comments (jug-o-rum) of the amorous bullfrogs in the marshy millponds that in a younger day dotted our countryside. But the millponds, and the bullfrogs, have unfortunately fast disappeared because of our changing styles of life.
But bullfrogs and millponds, though strong and fond memories of childhood, are not the subject that spurs me to scribe on this particular morning. As I sit, as usual, at the early breaking of dawn, in my study, while slowly sipping my first warming cup of self-measured Irish coffee; it is not unusual that I find myself staring out and up the hill that slopes beyond our back yard. I can see outlined against a heavy overcast sky, the outstretched arms of a giant Black Walnut.
The roots of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) and Butternut (Juglans cinerea) produce a substance known as juglone, which is toxic to a relatively small number of available plants. But it is a tree that is wrongly misunderstood, and more often than not continually blamed for much of which it is definitely not responsible for so doing.
It is quite easy for the gardener, whether avid or average, to foist the blame of their lack of success on the sedentary tree; as there is little or no chance of it talking back or giving a kick in the butt for being wrongly accused. But the blame should be placed on the lackadaisical laziness of gardeners themselves for not doing a little research before they go gloating over their newly arrived seed catalogues.
The toxic zone from a mature tree occurs on average in a 50 to 60 foot radius from the trunk, but can be up to 80 feet depending on the height of the tree. The area affected extends outward each year as the tree enlarges. Young trees, two to eight feet high, can have a root diameter twice the height of the top of the tree, with susceptible plants dead within the root zone, and sickly or dying at the margins.
Many plants, such as tomato, potato, blackberry, blueberry, azalea, mountain laurel, rhododendron, red pine, and members of the apple family may be injured or killed within one to two months of growth within the root zone of these trees. But that is no reason to blame the trees, for there is ample others, numbering in the thousands, that will grow quite successfully within the circle of their root span.
Some of the trees I have seen growing under or near black walnut are; Japanese Maples, Southern Catalpa, Eastern Redbud, and Canadian Hemlock, and I am sure there are many others. Some of the vines and shrubs that seem not to be bothered are Clematis, Daphne, Euonymus, Rose of Sharon, Honeysuckle, Virginia Creeper and the list goes on and on.
When it comes to the herbaceous perennials that most wish to plant as ground cover, the list is almost never ending, but as time and space are limited in my realm, I’ll list just a few of the more popular ones, under their most common names.: Bugleweed, Hollyhock, Anemone, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Wild Ginger, Astilbe, Bellflower, Dutchman’s Breeches, Sweet Woodruff, Daylily, Coral Bells, most Hosta, most Ferns, Primrose, Bloodroot, and Stonecrop.
But the most common sense advice, proffered often by my father, in my growing up years, was, “If the damn thing don’t do well, just move it.”
So don’t go blaming the trees for your stubbornness; go out and give them a big hug instead. For if it matters where not for them and their kissing cousins world wide, purifying the air that we all share, you, and the mouse that is nibbling the potatoes stored in the bucket under your sink could be sucking into your lungs at this very moment, the unpurified, wind blown, air that was belched from the gut of a burping African Hippo just yesterday. Think about that for a moment, then go hug a tree, any tree, and give thanks.
Take care, ’cause we care.
Barrie@barriehopkins.ca 519-843-4544