Strawberries & Black Walnut Trees

 Kathy was inspired to consider strawberries in her garden. She was asking about using raised beds as she has Black Walnut trees in her yard. I think that is likely your only option. The root systems of black walnut trees emit a chemical that is toxic to many other plants, especially the Nightshade family. Nightshades: peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant. Even destroying the tree will not help, there is no fix. Nearly all parts of the tree give off the chemical juglones. Even rain dripping off the leaves of black walnut can be toxic to some plants. So let's chat about raised beds. Several things come to mind about the one pictured above.

• looks junky
• so small, why bother?
• cheap material
• may last on season
• likely will not look like this after winter 

The above raised bed looks better. However, the boards are likely to bow out after a year or so. Support pieces of 2x4 should be used as reinforcement on the inside and outside, attached to both boards and also going about 8"into the soil, like a big stake. With the black walnut poison lurking around, I would line it with a heavy plastic. What about drainage....hmm. i would make a few small slits in the plastic, like 1 per square foot. I think I would make the bed at least as tall as shown 20" or so? Strawberries are shallow rooted plants, and won't go more than 8" down. Before installing the boards, I would drill weep holes along the bottom several inches off the bottom board to allow water to seep out. About 1 small hole every 6 inches. Make sense? Can you see it in my mind?

I don't care for this tiny cirlce shape, but if you plan to live where you are for many years, I would choose to make beds out of pavers or field stone. I admit, I am a stone lover. They look more natural in your yard as opposed to lumber or plastic beds. Also, do not use black walnut leaves for composting or covering plants in the winter or for summer mulch. Thanks for the questions, keep them coming, then I don't have to 'think' about what to post next, I can just get at it!  =)