So you want a Green Thumb, Ok lets go!
Have you ever cursed yourself as one of those who can't grow grass? Over the years you’ve tried to plant a number of vegetable gardens. Your gardens started out very well, but when the fruit of your garden started to grow, the plants withered away to nothing.  You said to yourself, “there’s always next year.� Next year comes and goes with the same results, and finally you give up.

Maybe you’re a victim of Juglans nigra, the common Black Walnut tree. This tree produces Juglone1 a chemical that occurs naturally in the leaves, roots, husks, and bark of trees in the Juglandaceae family (Black Walnut tree). This toxic stunts the growth or will kill many of types of plants you want in your garden. Juglone is sometimes used as an natural/organic herbicide. The chemical has also been found to promote laminitis in horses’ exposure to black walnut wood when it was accidentally mixed into their bedding2 materials.

Though the chemical Juglone is not highly soluble in water, the toxin can migrate thirty or forty feet through the soil. The nut of the tree is food for the local squirrel who peals away the walnut husk and buries the nut in your garden. Juglone is classified as an Allelopathic chemical, a naturally produced toxin that kills or inhibits the growth of neighboring plants. All along you the problem was not your gardening skills, but a strong toxin produced by your neighbor’s prized Black Walnut tree providing him and you shade during the hot days of summer. 

Don’t curse your neighbor or yourself. To fix your garden pour a half a gallon, about three  pounds, of ALLELOcarb™ Granulated into each 30 pounds of compost your make. Then apply the compost mixed with ALLELOcarb(TM) liberty on to your garden, about 20 pounds per 1000 square feet (20 ft X 50 ft). 

We trust that your thumb will indeed turn green and intern stuff your family with healthy fruit and vegetables. You might even have enough for your neighbor who has that pesky Walnut tree in their yard.

Note 1: Black Walnut Toxicity, West Virginia Extension Services as Adapted from File Page HO-193, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service.
Note 2: Laminitis Caused by Black Walnut Wood Residues Daniel L. Cassens, Professor and Extension Wood Products Specialist in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, and Stephen B. Hooser, DVM, PhD, DABVT and Head of Toxicology Section and Assistant Director, Animal Disease.