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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-038
Black Walnut
Juglans nigra
Black Walnut produces a rich, oily dessert nut and a sweet sap that can be boiled into syrup, while the same tree grows one of the most valuable cabinet and veneer hardwoods in North America. Grown out in the open it spreads into a broad shade tree instead of a straight timber log; crowded by neighbours, it drives straight up into a tall, clear trunk instead. Its roots, buds and nut hulls release a compound that stunts or kills nearby tomatoes, apples and several other garden plants, so it needs distance from a vegetable bed. Squirrels bury the nuts well beyond the canopy, which is how new seedlings turn up some distance from the parent tree.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moist · Moderate · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Canopy- Soil pH
- 5–8
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 50–75 ft
- Mature spread
- 50–75 ft
- Plant spacing
- 30–40 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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Almond
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American Basswood
Tilia americana
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American Beech
Fagus grandifolia
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American Chestnut
Castanea dentata
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American Elm
Ulmus americana
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Canopy · USDA 3–9
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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