In article , "JNJ" wrote:

I have a section of chain link fence to cover BUT it is right alongside a
black walnut.

Now, I've no intentions of cutting down my beloved black walnut tree but I
REALLY want to cover that section of chain link, preferably with a vine.
Has anyone had any luck getting vines to grow under black walnuts? If so,
what varieties?

James
Zone 6, SW Ohio

Someone really should compile a list of plants that are not at all injured
by juglone. Grape vines are certainly out of the question, they're as
sensitive to juglone as are rhododendrons. But much else would do fine if
only water could be gotten to the spot. I bet more plants are killed by
the dryness under a walnut canopy than by the juglone. For instance,
honeysuckle, boston ivy, & clematis are not harmed by juglone, but they
need water & sunlight, so are not often seen thriving in the dark dry
shade deep under walnut trees. But if there's a drip system run out to
them & sun reaches them at one or another part of the day, they'll do
fine.

J. Robert Nuss, Professor of Ornamental Horticulture Horticultural
Department at Pennsylvania State University, did a survey of plants
growing under walnut trees. BY FAR the most common vine was Virginia
Creeper (or Englemann ivy). Hydrangea shrubs also grew well under
walnuts, & I would presume so would climbing hydrangea, though Professor
Nuss didn't count any in his under-walnut census. He did count quite a few
bittersweet vines (Celastrus scandens) though only a fraction of the
number of Virginia Creepers.

You could also consider getting a nicer fence. The only place where chain
link looks appropriate is around a construction site. The only conceivably
worse fence would be those six foot high plastic prefab white fences
embossed with knothole & woodgrain patterns that look like Rick Moranis
enlarged them from a toy farm set. Those only look appropriate around
rusty trailer houses where someone is tragically & pathetically trying to
make things look nice (or who needed the fence so they wouldn't have to
see their immediate neighbors' piles of bean cans & beer bottles
encroaching on the property lines).

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/