By Mrsradford
My next door neigh.bour has an old black walnut tree which overhangs my garden, it is covered with ivy and the fruits drop off while still very immature.
My problem is that there is very little that grown under it and my garden has a very dry patch of about 5 X 5 metres.
What can I grow under this tree, bearing in mind that I cannot cut it down, and is there any way of encouraging growth of any lawn appearance plants.
24 Jul, 2015
Answers
Walnut trees produce juglone which inhibits the growth of many other vegetation. Hostas, rhododendron & euonymous will grow under a walnut tree.
24 Jul, 2015
If the ground is very dry though hostas would take a lot of watering to be happy. I agree Euonymus would be a good choice if you choose the low growing ones. The fortuniis
can easily be kept at a foot high and will spread out as they mature. There are plain green, and both silver and gold variegations, which would brighten up a darkish area.
Avoid Silver Queen if you want it to stay low growing without trimming, though its a lovely shrub.. Emerald Gaiety is well behaved and so is Emerald 'n gold.. But whatever you plant there you could do with adding lots of organic mulch before planting.
25 Jul, 2015
Thanks for the replies, but I really want to have a productive garden for food.
The ground is very dry and very fast draining, I have hostas but don't really like them and I have one rhoddodendron which is OK.
Peas were a bit sad but enough for one.
27 Jul, 2015
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This makes interesting, if rather worrying (for you) reading.
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/qt/Black_Walnuts.htm
24 Jul, 2015