walnut & alberta spruce

Discussion in 'Woody Plants' started by lid15s1, Jul 4, 2005.

  1. lid15s1

    lid15s1 Member

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    Location:
    Venetia, Pennsylvania, USA
    I have a Black Walnut tree, about 25' high, 12" diameter and, I would like to plant two dwarf Alberta Spruce trees, one on each side of the walnut tree. The Alberta Spruce trees are about 4' tall. Can I do this without killing the spruce trees and, if so, how far away from the walnut tree should I plant the spruce trees?
     
  2. NiftyNiall

    NiftyNiall Active Member 10 Years

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    coquitlam
    Walnut tree are allelopathic, meaning that they inhibit their neighbours by putting up some type of chemical defense. You should think of how big the bole of the Black walnut will get and the influence of the fallen leaves, which will smother and inhibit the proposed Spruce planting. Get the Spruce trees well away from the Walnut as much as possible. Spruce trees like almost full sun, with moisture available throughout the season, something that the Walnut would greatly inhibit. Good luck
     
  3. Ralph Walton

    Ralph Walton Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Denman Island,BC
    Picea abies Norway Spruce is said to be somewhat tolerant of Juglone (the "herbicide" produced by walnut trees). The Black Walnut is the most allelopathic of the walnuts, so consider your nearby plantings carefully.

    Have a look at this list from the U of Wisconsin:
    http://www.uwex.edu/ces/wihort/landscape/Juglone.htm
    Landscape: Juglone Tolerant Plants

    Ralph
     
  4. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Location:
    WA USA (Z8)
    Dwarf Alberta spruce is a shade-intolerant alpine rock garden type conifer, which would look quite out of character and probably receive to much shade and litter underneath a walnut tree.
     
  5. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    For what it's worth I've seen it done having
    Alberta Spruce planted along with a Walnut.
    The too much shade aspect is a real concern.
    If you can control the Walnuts canopy and
    place the Spruce about 15-20' from the base
    of the Walnut on each side (wish I knew your
    prevalent sun direction, here it is West and
    East) then you can get by having these trees
    grow among each other. It is the husks from
    the Black Walnut that will cause you the most
    worry, more so than the invasive roots from
    the Walnut tree. In order to have these trees
    co-exist will require you to be thorough with
    your clean up of the dropped nuts, the husks
    and the leaves. You cannot let any of them
    stay on the ground in close proximity to your
    Spruce until your Spruce have become better
    established, which for them is around 5 years
    in the ground. Give the Spruce as much
    sunlight as you can or they will brown out
    on you.

    Jim
     

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