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Black Walnut

Juglans nigra
Black Walnut

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Plant Types/Container Sizes




Black Walnut Details:

Plant Facts
Mature Height
50 - 70 feet
Mature Spread
50 - 70 feet
Soil Type
Widely Adaptable
Moisture
Moderate
Mature Form
Upright, Spreading
Growth Rate
Rapid
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Flower Color
Not Showy
Fall Color
Yellow
Foliage Color
Green
4-9

The Black Walnut tree, Juglans nigra, is prized for its wood and shade. Black Walnut trees are a large, moderately growing, majestic tree. This deciduous tree makes a wonderful shade tree, and when planted for a wood plantation, makes a great long-term investment. This tree has moderate water requirements and is tolerant to drought. It has massive, upright spreading, open branches.

The nuts are large and plump and crack out of the shell easily. The roots of the black walnut produce a substance known as juglone (5-hydroxy-alpha-napthaquinone). This biochemical is toxic to many plants such as the tomato, potato, black and blue berries, and other plants that may grow within a 50 to 60 foot radius of the trunk. Not all plants are sensitive to juglone and many trees, vines, shrubs, and flowers will thrive in close proximity to a Black Walnut tree.

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  The Black Walnut is best viewed from a distance, 10/12/2006 12:23:54 AM
Reviewer: Gary
I have a number of Black Walnut trees on my property. They are extremely beautiful trees. The largest is probably 40 feet across and about the same in height. The trunk must be about 5 feet in diameter. My Grandfather planted this tree probably 60-70 years ago. The foliage looks very feathery. They are planted only on the edges of my property. Unfortunately in the late summer/ early fall they are extremely messy. They not only loose their leaves but also the 6-8 inch long central stem that holds the leaves together and gives them their feathery look. Never plant them near a swimming pool as the leaves/stems when they fall sink to the bottom and stain liners as well as any patio furniture that may be nearby. I cut down a rather large tree that was near my pool 30 years ago and the stump which is about 2-3 feet high is still there! It is an extremely rot resistant wood. Never plant them over a driveway unless you want to ride over the nuts in the fall. It is like riding over hard tennis balls. Fall is also the time of the year when they have a rather medicinally pungent scent about them due to the ripened hull of the nut. The nuts fall when the hulls are green but they will turn black as they ripen. The chemicals in the hulls (both green and black) will stain your skin brown- chlorine bleach will remove the stains. If you want to harvest the nuts,I have found that the easiest way is to gather them by the bushel full, spread them on your driveway and drive over them a few times to break off the hulls. Then set them aside to dry. Once fully dried they will keep for at least a year. They are not terribly easy to shell but they are worth the effort. They taste much better than store bought nuts. These trees will kill most plants around them from a chemical in their system. I have had luck with Forsythia and Hickory Nut trees as neighboring plantings. My vegetable garden was stunted for many years about 20-30 feet away from the dead "stump" of the Black Walnut tree. If you like wildlife, squirrels will beat a path to your tree and will hide nuts all over the neighborhood.

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  Josaphine, 4/26/2007 2:38:35 PM
Reviewer: Josaphine
I grew my black walnut from a BLACK walnut , I placed it in a pot and it GREW, that was 15 yrs ago. I gave 10 to our local nursery owner and he placed them on his property,I kept only 1. It is now 30 to 50ft tall and has a span of about the same. It never has had walnuts but I still love it. It shades the neighbors yard, not mine. It held its own in our Hurricane, so its almost wind proof at 160 miles per hour. We have had droughts for the last 7 yrs and it is still beautiful.

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  Does the Black Walnut Kill other trees, 5/21/2007 12:42:04 AM
Reviewer: Fred
We have a Black Walnut tree, our neighbor wants us to cut it down, he said it would kill his tree. It has been growing since we have been here, 1995, we didnt plant it, I thank it came as a result of a seed. His trees are about30-50 feet away from the tree. Thank you

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  Josaphine, 6/19/2007 7:49:51 PM
Reviewer: Josaphine
I have planted several trees within 20 ft of my black walnut and they are living and growing. Dont let people try to tell you that other trees wont grow around a black walnut. I can prove what I am saying

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  Watch where you plant, 8/31/2007 11:57:57 PM
Reviewer: jb
We had 5 black walnuts in a group growing near (15-20ft) a row of pines and other evergreens. You could tell where the black walnuts were. All the evergreens were healthy until you got to the area where the black walnuts were. They were all dying in that spot then farther down they were healthy again. There was a silver maple near there also. It is mostly dead also. We ended up taking down the trees and digging up as much of the roots as we could. Pretty tree but beware of where you plant it.

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  Exasperated for years, 9/4/2007 1:10:00 PM
Reviewer: Suburban gardener
When we purchased our home nearly 36 years ago, we were excited about the large black walnut tree which sits along our lot line since there were no other large trees in our new development. However, the years of planting many different types of plants only to watch them either die within a year or remain permanently stunted before they reach maturity have considerably dulled my excitement. I would hate to track how much money weve wasted over the years on plants. With the advent of the internet, Ive taken to researching what types of plants will tolerate the juglone that is released by the tree. I find that the toxicity extends to approximately 50 feet beyond the drip line. Considering the fact that our suburban yard is only 110 feet across, that pretty much takes care of our yard. My list of nonsensitive plants has become invaluable.

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  N.A., 9/9/2007 9:35:04 PM
Reviewer: billy
FYI: Our neighbor planted some along the property line about 25-30 years ago. One near (about 15-20) a Southern Magnolia is stunting its growth and coloring its leaves a sickly dark green. However a Sycamore within 10 is thriving. And an Eastern White Pine about 15 from another one is doing well also. The trees are pretty, the leaves havent been a problem, but the walnuts are a pain.

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  not good with livestock, 9/16/2008 5:25:01 PM
Reviewer: legacymnthome
In my opinion this a beautiful tree,I am a bit of an off grid person and would love the nuts to harvest however the chemical this tree excretes affects horses and other livestock by making them lame, {even just being bedded on the shavings}I will plant some but will be extremly careful as we have goats,horses,cows and free range chickens.

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