Stunting is a symptom of black walnut poisoning. First off, is this a black walnut? If it is an english walnut, it can not be the culprit. The leaves are very different, english having the same leaf as a hickory, large and smooth-edged, black having smaller, serrated leaves. Assuming it is, what happened is that the tree sensed the good compost in those beds and eventually sent a root there. Every tree does that. It was not there in years past, but it is now. Dig a trench on the bed side facing the tree, find the root, and cut it. The roots are also black on the outside, and they should be fairly superficial. In fact, the farther back from the bed you can cut the root, the fewer these interventions over the years. It will take some time for the juglone to dissipate. Unfinished compost, buried in the bed, will speed things up (not the sterile finished, the smelly, fermenting one, all crawling with worms). You can plant carrots, beets or chard, they will make it, and give you a crop in the Fall. Even they will not grow as much as they could, juglone is a nasty compound.

I'm following this thread because I think I know what's going on and I want to find out if I'm right. Others here will have better answers, but I'll try. I'm going on the assumption that yes, those are plums making the thicket. Plums do that. Also, plums send up lots of suckers, which means that there is at least some connection underground. There may be some seedlings growing too. My thought is that they are tough and resilient, and that you should go in and remove 90% of them by any means possible- saw, shovel, backhoe, whatever it takes. Thin mercilessly to one plant every several feet. Pick the best-formed plants to stay. Get rid of anything else. Remove roots as well as trunks- and pretend that each plant that you leave would do well in a big pot. Continue to remove competition all summer and all next year. Then, treat each remaining tree as you would had you bought it. (I'd train to central leaders, even though these're plums, but others may wisely recommend bases.) Now I'm open to corrections. Please!! :-) Thanks all, M

How did your bois d'arc tree happen to fall? Just wondering; when I lived in Texas, I found the trees almost impossible to kill because of all of the suckering at the base. Congratulations on your roses surviving and I hope fighting off the b.d. suckers.

Please, Deneciepie, forget about eating your mushrooms. We like you on this forum! I think there's a "rule" about this: don't even consider eating a wild mushroom that resembles a Death Angel unless you are an incredibly experienced mushroomer. Death Angels look like white button mushrooms with pinkish gills that turn black or brown with age. My personal belief is that mushrooms are too cheap to experiment with your liver or kidneys, let alone your life. By the way, I hear Death Angels are delicious. Renee