Empress Tree - Pollarding
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SunnyBunny
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jul-06-2009 at 4:44pm
Howdy, I read Wendy's article about Pollarding an Empress Tree. Royal Paulonia - Paulownia tomentosa.
The tree that supposedly grows 15 feet a year. My husband came home with one from the Seattle Tilth Edible Plant Sale, purchased from Mike Dolan, Burnt Ridge Nursery. I would like to plant this tree in front of our deck area where we have a hot tub, let it grow about 8-10 feet and then make it a pollard speciman. We need some shade as well as privacy and I like the big leaves and the way they look but I do not want to plant something that will become invasive or spread invasive seeds. Pollarding seems like a good answer. I wanted opinons on this before I do this. My husband loves this tree so that is a factor too. It is of course an experiment that can be cut down and ripped out if it does not work.
"Don't Panic!
It's Organic!"
Joy C
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Jul-07-2009 at 11:12am
We had one, and even though we had enough space for it, It was a bit overwhelming how fast that thing grew,not only in height but in width as well and we loved those huge leaves. It also became a reliable hazard when we had wind storms, so after 3 years, we took it down, as in, the rest of it down that hadn't already cracked and flopped--I am no accurate judge of heights, but it had to be close to 50 feet tall. So, if pollarding works, good luck. We replaced The Empress with a golden locust, which also grows really fast but seems somewhat sturdier, and easier to maintain.
Joy
SunnyBunny
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jul-07-2009 at 1:51pm
Sheesh! Fifty Feet? I was hoping to maintain it at about 15 feet or so. Enough to clear the deck and let us stand up sans bathing suit. I think it is my husband's desire to see how big it gets in 3 years and then leave it there. The problem is...lazy gardeners. You have to really remember to hack it back so it does not get out of hand. Joy thanks for the feedback. Sunny.
"Don't Panic!
It's Organic!"
greenmann
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jul-13-2009 at 1:43pm
There are several nice 15-20 foot tall smaller tree/shrubs that might fit the bill for that as well. One of the Elderberries would do beautifully. Our two natives are Samucus racemosa, the red elder, and S. caerulea, the blue elder. Both will get around 20-25 feet and faster than almost anything else I can think of usually. Blue elder seems denser, but is also a little harder to keep under control if you want to keep it relatively flat. It wants to be a low mound. Hazel (Corylus cornuta) is another that would do well as a screen, though not as fast growing. It also wants to get wide, though. Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) shouldn't get much more than 25 feet eithe,r and generally grows fairly quickly. It is closely related to cherrie,s and like them likes to sucker, but if you can deal with a thicketing shrub with nice white cherry like flowers and blueberry like fruit, might be just the ticket. Some of hte smaller maples would likely also do well. Both Douglas maple (Acer glabrum douglasii) and vine maple (A. circinatum) will get between 15 and 25 feet fairly quickly, and in the latter case you should even be able to by bigger ones that will create a near instant screen. Japanese maples too, they are about the same size. Another native that might do rather well, but is hard to find is the Sitka Alder. Grows fast, but again its ultimate height is around 20-25 feet. More of a large multi stemmed shrub than a tree if left to its own, it will easily prune up into a nice small tree and screen really well. Like red alder, it has nice late winter color too. And is always full of birds, another plus I enjoy very much about the family in general.
I suspect for "lazy gardeners" these slightly slower growing trees, that won't get much taller than what you want to begin with, might be a much better choice.
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Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
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