Is there a spot in your garden where plants just won’t grow? Did
your tasty tomatoes all of a sudden up and die? I might know the
reason! The beautiful big Walnut tree in your back yard may be
murdering your plants. That’s right, murder! The Walnut is a
native plant with a nasty secret. Actually, you could consider
it self-defense, Walnuts don’t like competition, plants that
grow up under and around them take away water, light, nutrients
and space, so they take matters into their own hands and get rid
of them. The roots of the Black and Butternut Walnut produce a
toxic substance known as juglone. This substance is poisonous to
most plants and when another plants roots system comes close to
or touches the Walnuts roots it unleashes the deadly venom and
the competing plant dies. The toxic root zone from a mature tree
can extend to a 50 to 60 foot radius from the trunk, on a large
old tree it can be up to 80 feet. Young trees two to eight feet
high can have a root diameter twice the height of the tree
itself. Wa