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FeaturesMay 18, 2019

This spring has been cooler and wetter than usual in Southeast Missouri. This has produced a perfect scenario for nuts planted by squirrels to sprout and quickly put down a healthy taproot. Conversely, this super-saturated soil makes it a good time to pull up weeds and tree sprouts...

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By Aaron Horrell

This spring has been cooler and wetter than usual in Southeast Missouri. This has produced a perfect scenario for nuts planted by squirrels to sprout and quickly put down a healthy taproot. Conversely, this super-saturated soil makes it a good time to pull up weeds and tree sprouts.

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The morning of May 12, I noticed a small black walnut seedling growing in a little garden I had sown to wildflowers three weeks earlier. I did not want a tree growing in the garden. I easily pulled it up, although if the ground were dry I would have broken the top off and the sapling would grow back.

At the right side of my image you can see the taproot which is straight and at least the same size as the trunk on the left. A deep taproot gives the black walnut a better chance of survival during a drought.

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