Demystifying the myth about black walnuts

SALT LAKE CITY – Do you have concerns about black walnuts preventing your plants from growing? Fortunately, you don’t have to worry.

Last week on the KSL Greenhouse Show, Taun Beddes talked about an article he came across that talked about how black walnuts are allelopathic.

“What that means is that they produce some sort of chemical that inhibits germination and growth of other plants,” Taun said.

This has led so many people to believe that plants do very poorly if you grow them under black walnuts. However, this is a myth. In most situations, Taun has noticed that plants actually grow quite well under black walnuts.

“In the real world, there is almost zero evidence that these walnuts are actually allelopathic,” Taun said.

But this doesn’t mean you should deliberately mix your walnut leaves into your garden.

“You really need to do your research. Even extension services across the United States have propagated this and are guilty of it to where—if you really get back to the data—the USDA has suggested that this isn’t true,” Taun said.

This is simply one of those universal garden myths, and it’s important to go back to the data.

Listen to the full segment on our podcast below!

The KSL Greenhouse airs every Saturday from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. You can follow the show on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and on our website.