KILLER TREES

By Barry Glick

Do not ?be alarmed at the sinister sound that this story’s title invokes - ?it’s actually a “double entendre”. ?I’ll defer to my cronies at Wikipedia for the classic definition of that phrase in case you’re unfamiliar with it - A double entendre is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially awkward, sexually suggestive, vague or offensive to state directly.

Simply stated, the first reference in the title would be the use of the word “Killer” as an adjective to describe how “Awesome”, “Amazing”, “Beautiful”, “Graceful” etc, the trees that I’m referring to are. The second meaning is a warning and refers to the fact that these trees kill! YES, KILL!!!

I’m sure by now, that most of the earthy, nature loving tree huggers amongst you have figured out that I’m referring to, Juglans nigra aka “Black Walnut”. Probably the most prevalent, naturally occurring and most planted tree in our lovely county seat of Lewisburg WV! And why not? This stately, long lived species produces some of the most attractive, stable and desirable hardwood lumber in the world, also one of the most expensive. It also sports great foliage, shape and form.

And now on to the other half of the “double entendre”, the murderous, KILLER part! ( I’ll introduce a “Bwa ha-ha-ha” here, or should that be “Mua-ha- ha- ha.” I’ll leave that up to your preference.)

?It seems to me that this part is overrated. And for that reason I’ll relate to you bit of history. When I moved to these mountains as a young, na?ve lad, a veritable city dweller, local folks were quick to point out the dangers of planting anything under a Black Walnut other than grass seed. And as with most folklore, there is an element of truth to that advice. This brings us to another interesting trick that Mother Nature plays on us – Allelopathy! Allelopathy refers to a negative or positive effect on one type of plant, by a chemical produced by another type of plant. And to a certain degree, this IS true with Black Walnut. Scientists, a long time ago isolated the compound know as Juglone from Black Walnut roots. Juglone is an organic compound that is emitted from the roots of Black Walnut trees. How clever of those little devils to borrow the name of the genus when naming their discovery. J

It seems that many, but not all plants are susceptible to the toxic effects of Juglone. Now don’t go “googling” a list of plants that shouldn’t be planted under a Black Walnut, it will confuse the hell out of you. The first thing you’ll see is tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant etc. DUH!! Who in the world is going to plant their veggie garden in the shade under any kind of tree???

BTW, as a side note, I’m happy to inform you, as if you were not aware by now, that “Googling” IS a word, a verified verb actually. So, after this point in my “authoring” career I’m going to stop putting it in “Double Quotes” as The American Dialect Society has chosen “Googling” Googling as the most useful word of 2002". It was added to the Oxford English Dictionary on June 15, 2006, and to the eleventh edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary in July 2006. The act of using the Google search engine is known colloquially as “Googling” Googling. Looks like “authoring” authoring is a word now as well, so there go the “double quotes” there!

Soooo, back to Allelopathy and black walnuts. It seems that most common garden weeds are denied a happy life under black walnuts. Lots of other plants can be planted under them, so if your yard is shaded by these magnificent specimens, fear not as they will not kill your plants the day you plant them. Rather, the susceptible plants will start a slow decline or ?just stand still and not grow. If you see them tuning yellow, they are probably choking on Juglone and should be given CPR and moved ASAP.

Another example of Allelopathy is something that I’ve discovered on my own by simple observation. We have a native grass in these mountains named Danthonia. There are two species, Danthonia spicata and Danthonia compressa. They’re known collectively as “Poverty Oats”. It’s easy to see where that common name comes from as the attractive seed heads resemble a light version of Oats. I find virtually no weeds in deep shady stands of Danthonia and it grows quite beautifully in really poor soil, making it a great candidate for those of you who insist on growing a lawn in the deep shade rather than planting shade loving perennials and wildflowers.

I would be extremely remiss if I didn’t mention in closing how nutritious the nuts that Black Walnut produces are, and what a PIA they are to shell, I’ll see you at Kroger’s, it’s much easier to buy them. Just “Google” Google it.

Peace out Glickster