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I've got a large walnut tree (Juglans regia), and I am happy with it, I just want to improve further that part of my garden to be more attractive to birds and butterflies.

My idea is to plant a climber that will climb up the walnut, and hopefully cover it (at least partially).

I searched the net, but could not find a similar case.

No need to mention that the climber must be juglone-tolerant.

Is this doable, or even possible at all?

My thoughts are now:

  • lonicera
  • hedera
  • wisteria

This list of juglone-tolerant plants mentions lonicera and wisteria, but not hedera. Another list mentions lonicera only (out of these three).

I will be doing some crown lifting pruning of that walnut next spring, so that more sunlight is available daily for the area at the bottom of the tree.

This is not my walnut tree, but my tree is very similar (age, size, habit...) to the pictured one:

enter image description here What do you think?

VividD
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  • Something wrong in the question. Juglans regia is the common walnut. Black walnut is J. nigra. – Giacomo Catenazzi Nov 09 '17 at 17:04
  • @GiacomoCatenazzi It is a common walnut, "Juglans regia" is its correct name, I am going to correct the question, THANKS! But, black or common walnut, I believe both emit juglone and have similar habits.... – VividD Nov 09 '17 at 17:06
  • I live in Europe, and my walnut is a native one, so it can't be Juglans nigra... @GiacomoCatenazzi – VividD Nov 09 '17 at 17:54
  • Yeah. The original question were inconsistent with scientific and common name. But it seems that many walnuts are not so "native", but originally cultivated, and considered "magical". Look at the tree, it is one of the most elegant, also when is not planted alone. Personally I would not "ruin" it with a vine (sorry birds!). – Giacomo Catenazzi Nov 09 '17 at 19:08
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    I note you replaced the link, but they're not relevant; they're about Juglans nigra (black walnut) and worse, they're PDF format, which downloads direct to a person's device hard drive, not read only. Not good - I'm now about to try to find them and delete from my hard drive, very irritating. – Bamboo Nov 09 '17 at 23:34
  • @Bamboo There are online file format converters, of you don't like PDF format – VividD Nov 10 '17 at 00:15
  • The linked files are very relevant, they list juglone-tolerant plants. – VividD Nov 10 '17 at 00:35
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    There are no other links to PDFs on this site because they download automatically; but I both create and download PDF documents all the time for other, non GL related reasons. Its the automatic download, without a choice, that's frustrating when linked on sites like these, and your link gave no clue it was to a PDF, or I would not have clicked on it. It is now deleted from my drive. – Bamboo Nov 10 '17 at 00:41
  • @Bamboo When you access any web site, you download dozens of files, and you are not even aware of them, let alone warned, and honestly your complaining seems pretty pointless to me. – VividD Nov 10 '17 at 00:51
  • Hi VividD. I don't like to argue, and usually stay out of these things, but I'm with @Bamboo about the PDF lists. I'd love to learn how to add file format converters to open PDFs, but that's not the point. The point is that there are many people who can't easily download PDFs. A quick Google search of Juglone tolerant plants produces a number of results that are not in PDF format. Would be willing, for the sake of the community, to replace your links with those? It would probably just take a few minutes for you and would be a big help. – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL Nov 10 '17 at 04:33
  • But it is a choice of the browser. @Bamboo: check the settings and restore the disabled automatic download. Browser should ask, and most browser will display the pdf inside the page, so the document should be removed after closing the browser – Giacomo Catenazzi Nov 10 '17 at 08:18
  • @GiacomoCatenazzi - what I don't get is why it automatically downloaded Vivid's PDF link, when it doesn't usually off this site - one's usually asked View or Download, but that link downloaded without presenting the option. I will get my CTO son to explain what's going on next time I see him,maybe its something he can tinker with, but its not usually a problem because people don't link to PDF on here, I certainly never do. – Bamboo Nov 10 '17 at 08:35

1 Answers1

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Note that black walnut (Juglans nigra) has the highest level of juglone in all its parts, so that is a significant difference between it and Juglans regia, the common walnut.

This link https://extension.psu.edu/landscaping-and-gardening-around-walnuts-and-other-juglone-producing-plants has plenty of suggestions for trees and shrubs growing around Walnut, including vines - your lonicera is not on the list of juglone tolerant vines, they are Clematis, Wisteria, Vitis and Parthenocissus quinquifolia. (Note: the link you posted doesn't lead anywhere,so I don't know where you got the information about lonicera being juglone tolerant from. Update - see comment above.)

Note that the text body includes a reference to not using mulch containing walnut leaves; this refers to your other post about composting walnut leaves, so what it's saying is, you shouldn't use as mulch anything containing uncomposted parts from walnut - leaves, once composted, will have lost all their juglone content easily within six months. This difference between composted and uncomposted parts, and failure to understand the difference, might account for all the misinformation about walnut mulch on the web...

Bamboo
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