Hi!
I have almost all shade... bright, high shade...not deep shade. All of it is under black walnut trees, so I have the problem of juglone toxicity. I know there are many lists of plants that are supposed to grow well under walnut trees, but I have not had reliable results with some of the things. In particular "Ajuga. Chocolate Chip", pulmonaria. Also some ferns make it and some don't. Not sure if my problems are the walnuts or just my gardening skills. If anyone else has walnut trees, I would be interested to here what companion plants are working for you. Thanks in advance!
Plants that grow under black walnut trees??
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eastwood2007
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Chris_W
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Hi,
Our shady growing areas are completely under black walnut trees and we grow many different plants without trouble, including lots of ferns, pulmonarias, Aruncus, cimicifuga, Tiarella, Aconitum, and all of the other shade plants we grow, actually.
With Ajuga Chocolate Chip we grow that plant in part sun to full sun and it grows rather thick and looks great. Personally I have never tried it in much shade.
Pulmonaria should have no trouble growing under walnuts, so there must be something else going on there. Make sure you plant them deeply so that none of the crown is exposed, otherwise they can dry out and die over the winter or during the heat of the summer. A thick layer of mulch would help them too. When I divide ours I rebury them with base of the leaves about an inch or two deeper to protect them and we grow them in the more moist areas. Tiarella on the other hand are also covered by about an inch but in the dry areas.
The only plant I have had die for me where I knew it was the juglone toxin was Hydrangeas. They grew great for a year and then about half of them just started to wilt, wither and die. What happened was the roots of the hydrangeas eventually touched roots of the walnut. Hydrangeas that did not come in contact with the walnut roots are still growing.
Many annuals and vegetables also are very susceptible to the walnut toxin, but most shade perennials are fine.
I attached a picture of our growing areas. All of the trees you can see are walnuts except for one oak in the background.
Remember to start with the best soil you can, then add mulch to conserve moisture and prevent weeds, plus mulch will also break down and improve the soil over time. We don't mulch our growing areas because we are constantly adding compost and tilling it under. But we do lightly topdress with compost in the fall, so that is like adding mulch.
I hope that helps
Chris
Our shady growing areas are completely under black walnut trees and we grow many different plants without trouble, including lots of ferns, pulmonarias, Aruncus, cimicifuga, Tiarella, Aconitum, and all of the other shade plants we grow, actually.
With Ajuga Chocolate Chip we grow that plant in part sun to full sun and it grows rather thick and looks great. Personally I have never tried it in much shade.
Pulmonaria should have no trouble growing under walnuts, so there must be something else going on there. Make sure you plant them deeply so that none of the crown is exposed, otherwise they can dry out and die over the winter or during the heat of the summer. A thick layer of mulch would help them too. When I divide ours I rebury them with base of the leaves about an inch or two deeper to protect them and we grow them in the more moist areas. Tiarella on the other hand are also covered by about an inch but in the dry areas.
The only plant I have had die for me where I knew it was the juglone toxin was Hydrangeas. They grew great for a year and then about half of them just started to wilt, wither and die. What happened was the roots of the hydrangeas eventually touched roots of the walnut. Hydrangeas that did not come in contact with the walnut roots are still growing.
Many annuals and vegetables also are very susceptible to the walnut toxin, but most shade perennials are fine.
I attached a picture of our growing areas. All of the trees you can see are walnuts except for one oak in the background.
Remember to start with the best soil you can, then add mulch to conserve moisture and prevent weeds, plus mulch will also break down and improve the soil over time. We don't mulch our growing areas because we are constantly adding compost and tilling it under. But we do lightly topdress with compost in the fall, so that is like adding mulch.
I hope that helps
Chris
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eastwood2007
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Thanks, Chris. Awesome photo, too. I can see the problem with my pulmonaria, in that I may not have set it deeply enough. Question on the Ajuga, though. I had worried that the area I put it in perhaps was getting too much sun, so that probably isn't it. I have tried it two years in a row in the same place and same results. Last time before I got it in the ground it sat in its flat of six packs in a tray. It got watered every day, and some periods it even sat in water for along time - I really neglected it, yet it looked terrific the whole time it was in there even when we had weeks of temps in high 90's and low 100's. Then I planted it and within a few days it started to decline and die. I tried to water it every few days. Does it need more water? I would try something else, but it is really perfect for the look I want in that spot. Is there somewhere I can research specifics for it's care? Thanks again for your help!
It seems that the lignin in walnut trees is present in the roots and the green hulls that form the outer covering of walnuts. I have not noticed a problem with walnut sawdust or twigs sent through a wood chipper or leaves when used as a mulch. I have been told that you need to be careful about composting the green hulls of walnuts because of their high lignin content.I always rake up any walnuts that fall because of the problems the hulls seem to cause.
Containers are one solution if you have plants that otherwise won't grow in the ground underneath the
Walnut trees.
Containers are one solution if you have plants that otherwise won't grow in the ground underneath the
Walnut trees.
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impatience
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Eastwood, I have found that ajuga prefers moisture. The areas of my yard where it just spreads and I have to dig it up and move it yearly is where there is a dip and the soil is moisture retentive. I'll bet that you just need to lower the area that you are planting the ajuga-you might even add some nice soil along with it.
Gardening is the slowest of the performing arts.