“I’ll never see the benefit, but, maybe my daughter will?”
If you inter-plant them with White Pine, the Black Walnut trees will grow straight and tall.
My FIL did that on an extra patch of land he owned - probably 5 acres. 20+ years later, the Black Walnuts were all harvested and the pines left standing so it still looked ‘nice’ as he wanted to sell that property as soon as zoning laws changed and someone could build a house there.
I’ll bet he made a HUGE profit on those trees. I never asked. He was a retired Engineer with IBM - farming all the while - and anything he touched turned to gold. I miss Big John so much! We used to sell Raspberries at a Farmer’s Market together, and tomatoes to local restaurants. A lot of work, but a lot of fun. :)
Beau has 5 of the 20+ trees felled so far. He’s dragging them to the edge of our property so it’ll be easier for the buyer to pick them up. That’s gonna get the Side by Side paid off quick! One ‘hard asset’ (literally, LOL!) paying for another, Baby! ;)
And, guess what, at my Mom’s old place, dozens of white pine seedlings are coming up. If the overall shading is not too great - there are still big oaks and hickory around the open area, one problem could enhance something else.
Now if only I have the time...