GardenBanter.co.uk - [IBC] Allelopathy Alert

Most of you are familiar with the allelopathy of black walnuts.
Allelopathy is
the tendency of a plant to produce chemicals which kill or
stunt neighboring
plants of other species. I have been growing the miniature
rush, Juncus
maximowiczii, which makes a cute companion plant. Other Juncus
species have
been implicated in allelopathy, but I have not found a
reference for this
particular one. However, I have found a couple of times that
when a clump of it
in a group planting got to a substantial size, the nearest tree
went downhill.
So I would recomment not planting it in a bonsai. It should do
fine as a
separately potted accent plant.

Thanks, Iris. I hadn't heard of the alleopathy issue relating to
Juncus species. It makes sense, however, when you see that vast
miles of Juncus salt marsh along the coat. There are VERY few
other plants growing there.

At least some magnolia species also repel close neighbors.
Beech, F. grandifolia, may, but that may only be because of the
thick layer of dead leaves under them.

The tiny rushes that grow as weeds in the yard do make nice
little accents, and I was going to add a couple to a Ilex
vomitoria penjing that I'm developing. I'll rethink. ;-)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.

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