I have about a dozen big walnut trees around the house and this year has been phenomenal in nut production--it's like walking on tennis balls in the yard.<br /><br />After careful consideration, I offer the following observations about walnuts.<br /><br />They poison the soil around them so you cannot plant vegatables or ornamentals around them.<br /><br />A walnut falling 50 feet will make a dent the size of a walnut on the hood of your new car.<br /><br />A walnut falling 50 feet hurts when it hits you on the head.<br /><br />The best way to remove the messy husk is to put them in the driveway and drive over them for a week or two.<br /><br />It is impossible to keep gutters clean around them. In the spring the catkins clog them up and in the fall the leaves and stems do.<br /><br />Walnuts will leave indelible stains on kid's clothing and fingers.<br /><br />There is no correllation between nut production and the severity of the following winter. My advice to the squirrels is to protect your nuts.<br /><br />It is impossible to steer a riding lawn mower on a yard covered in walnuts.<br /><br />They are the last trees to get their leaves in the spring (late May) and the first to lose them (late August).<br /><br />They are extremely handsome trees for a 10 week period when they have their leaves.<br /><br />You can't use walnut sawdust for animal bedding--it is harmful.<br /><br />A walnut falling into an old-fashioned galvanized plumbing roof vent will clog it completely and permanently. (And you never think to look there for the clog!)<br /><br />and lastly, walnut and steel together look perfect on a shotgun or rifle.<br /><br />Jinx
