Greetings from sunny (today) France

[Saffer]

Hi to all

We have just bought an old house on a half acre plot in La Vendee, France.
Not as easy plot, 'cause about a third is on a steep slope going down to a little stream. OH is having sleepless nights about all the terracing he has to do but I look at it as a challenge to make a beautiful garden. The garden has been quite neglected recently but does have loads of mature fruit trees as well as 6 walnut trees. I'm sure I'll be picking your brains for help with my new veggie patch soon - it'll be at the bottom of the slope so I can say I earned my supper!!

[scarey55]

Hi Saffer, welcome to the vine and welcome to France too.

You're not the only one with a sloping garden (by that I mean wilderness in my case) No plans for terracing here though.
Lucky you, having 6 walnut trees, I think I shall have to get me one of those
Anyway, have fun with your garden and don't forget to put your place on the grapevine map.

[terrier]

Welcome to the forum, Saffer.

[Saffer]

Thanx very much to both of you - will keep you posted with our progress

[Nicos]

Hello there Saffer- and welcome to the Vine from me too!
Sounds like you have a fun project ahead of you!
.....fruit and nuts...lovely!

[trousers]

hi saffer, welcome to the vine, wellie and i are about to do the very same thing in and around Poitou-charentes once we have sold here....

[lainey lou]

Hello saffer and welcome!

[Saffer]

Thanx again to you all - good luck to "Trousers" with the sale etc. this has got to be the most stressful time of anyones life!!

[gardenplot]

Hi Saffer, welcome to the vine

[wellie]

Hey Saffer!
Welcome! 83..... I'm going to 'look you up on my french numbers map later' !
Following on from Trousers's's post earlier, and yours'..... someone told me the other week (her husband heard it on Hereford/Glos radio from a Gardening Expert) that as Walnut Tree leaves fall to the ground and begin to rot down onto/into the soil, that they actually 'poison' the soil.
On the strength of the fact that that shocked me and I'd never heard that gem of information before, I thought I'd pass it on, just in case it's useful.
Would that 'little blinder' of info qualify me for a free glass of vino blanco at any time in the near distant future chez nous?!
X

[Jardiniere]

Hi Saffer
welcome to france and to the vine.
its good you have some mature stuff in your garden mine had nothing except some very old vines and a peach tree which died within the year.
wellie is right about the walnuts ..you cant grow anything at all underneath them but still good to have for the nuts! I had two but they had to be cut down as they had grown wild right next to buildings and were in danger of cutting off the phones, the electricity and damaging the roof...still there are some on the riverbank so i can still get nuts and so can the squirrels....
good luck with the slope

[Saffer]

Thanx very much for the walnut tips - and yes Wellie, the vino is in the cave waiting your arrival at chez nous! I must admit the ground below the walnut trees is pretty barren at the moment but there is also about 10 yrs of leaf mould there as well. Once all the mould has been removed & we keep control of it, will we still have the same problem? Alternatively, if we removed some of the trees, say 4, would this de-stabilise the slope they are growing now?

[Flummery]

I got the walnut tip off the internet Wellie, when we found loads of 'corporation' walnut trees last year and wanted some ideas about using them. I was going to put the soft remains of the outer casings on the compost heap until I read that - good thing I did - I'd have been wondering why all my veg plot failed this year!

[Jardiniere]

dont think you will ever grow anything right under the walnuts (although i did have some ivy under mine interestingly)
what is your slope made of?
I have a railway embankment at the end of my garden which appears to be made up of several decades of household waste - tins, bottles etc as well as hardcore (in its original meaning)and there are weed trees growing on here one of which we have semi chopped down but not taking out the roots and the bank hasnt collapsed .....

[Saffer]

Hi Jardiniere

I found a research document by Ohio State Uni on google about walnuts which gives all the plants that will & won't grow under walnuts. It's not the leaves that do the most damage but the roots apparently. They give off a substance called juglones, a protective mechanism. There is a lot of walnut info on the site & worth a read see: Black Walnut Toxicity to Plants, Humans and Horses, HYG-1148-93 . Our slope is natural (no debris fortunately) and we will landscape it with a walkway/stairs come terrace. He has some ideas so we will just try them out to see what works. Doesn't look if yours will be user friendly without a huge amount of work....