The Forestry Forum

I searched but didn't find an answer to this. We purchased our home and 8 acres 2 years ago. My wife would like a garden but the previous owner loved his black walnuts. There are 216 of them on the property and there is not a suitable location for a garden without taking a few down. I am fine with cutting and grinding the stumps but I am wondering how long it would take for the soil to be viable for planting the garden? (free of jugalone). I am guessing this takes quite some time? Thank you so much for any advice- Dave

I should note that these are not large trees...about 8" diameter trunks. They are spaced in a grid and I would need to remove 3 or 4 of them. 

I don't know the true science on that but most natural poisons degrade relatively fast. And some garden crops are little affected to start with. My best guess is that you could plant right after stump removal with mixed results and I'd expect it all to be unaffected by jugalones in 6 months. I have seen listed plants that do and don't grow around walnuts some where.

 But, as stated this isn't science but an opinion.  

I removed a 6-8" walnut tree and planted tomatoes and peppers immediately. I saw no ill effect on either one. Plants fifty feet away and directly where the tree was removed all looked the same. It was a couple years before I finally plowed up all the roots. Didn't seem to affect the plants. 

Not science, just what happened. 

Thanks so much for sharing. That makes me feel better about trying