Black Walnuts: Fall Treat or Scourge?

By Lois Hoffman
Updated on October 3, 2021
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JamesDeMers/pixabay

Black walnuts ripen in late summer and early fall. Though hard nuts to crack, the both sweet and savory bold flavor is worth the effort.
Photo by JamesDeMers on Pixabay

Late summer and fall bring a treat — or scourge — to many people’s backyards, depending on your point of view. Black walnuts are one of the most valuable and fully utilized natural forest trees in the United States…or one of the most nuisance trees around. Folks either love them or hate them, there usually isn’t any middle ground.

Although they are found in 32 states, they are most abundant in Missouri (some of us beg to differ on this fact), where they are the state tree nut (not to be confused with state tree, which is the flowering dogwood). They can be planted but are not grown in orchards, instead growing wild in yards, fields and forests.

They make great shade trees since their average height is 50 feet tall and some have even been reported to reaching 100 feet. They grow just as wide which provides lots of shade. Since their lifespan is 150 years, the trees are destined to be around for quite some time. In autumn, their leaves turn bright yellow which is in stark contrast to their black trunks.

The black walnut is a very versatile tree. Its fruit is used in both sweet and savory dishes, its wood is prized for furniture and gun stocks and the husks are used to make dyes. Its shells are the hardest of any tree nut in the world.

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