Any experiences with Paulownia tomentosa?

[primroselane]

Also known as the Empress Tree, Princess Tree or Foxglove Tree?

Thanx

[Nette]

I planted one in 2005 beside my chicken run because I needed quick shade, and it has exceeded my expectations. For the last few years, I supplemented the shade by planting gourds along the covered run, but this spring I intend to just plant cherry tomatoes along the fence because the tree is big enough to provide ample shade. I've heard they can be invasive, but so far I haven't had any new trees trying to sprout up in the surrounding area...

[ladycat]

I don't know what it is, but I looked up some pics. It's gorgeous.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...h+Images&gbv=2

[Sawmill Jim]

Use to be a a valuable tree we sold to an exporter going to JapanSome got the idea to plant them an fertilize them an grow them fast Found out they want a tree with tighter growth rings .Here they wont buy then with over so many rings per inch forget how many . You can gooogle paulownia an find a web site for the association .Hope this helps In spring we use to hunt them with a small plane low flying of course they have purple blooms either the male tree or female .Can be confused with the buzard tree think every twig on them is hollow Sorry i have CRS

[How Do I]

We have them growing wild around here. Found several growing out in our woods. Don't seem to grow as fast in understory. Saw a few growing wild by the interstate in Louisville.

[Ed Norman]

We once moved into a house and one was beside the driveway. It would weep a clear sap onto the cars most of the year. Finally got rid of it and the trunk was hollow and worthless.

[Jen H]

They're big, fast growing, and gorgeous. Keep up on the suckers, and it makes an excellent landscape tree.

[Ken Scharabok]

Isn't this the tree which is eating the Everglades due to its invasiveness?

From memory they were tried as a planted forest for chipwood harvesting. Concept is they could be cut every so many years. However, when cut the stump makes many suckers, none of which will grow into a decent tree unless all of the other suckers are kept trimmed off. Became way too much work.

I've also heard once established they are very hard to kill off - much like pivot hedge.

[chris30523]

I have paulownia all over the place.The only thing good I can say about it is it smells wonderful in the early spring.It does well where we are and ranks right up there with privet(which I also have tons of) and Kudzu. Goats take care of the privet and kudzu but won't touch the pricess tree.

[just_sawing]

1 It will grow as fast as the nutrients let it.
2 It is one of the most stable wood when cut to board known.
3 It accepts finishes light and dark so it beautiful.
4 The wood has a natural weep hole down the center. When the tree dies this works against it and that is why many people have seen hollow etc.
5 Australia is using the tree in the flats outside Sydny to use up the people waste. They grow so fast the a scrag 2x4 market has sprung up for the building industry.
6 The wood chip craves easy
7 When dry it isn't much heavier than balsa though when wet it is heavy.

Very invasive in some areas:
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pato1.htm

I'd check this one out carefully before I planted it.

.....Alan.

[wottahuzzee]

Originally Posted by Ken Scharabok

Isn't this the tree which is eating the Everglades due to its invasiveness?

From memory they were tried as a planted forest for chipwood harvesting. Concept is they could be cut every so many years. However, when cut the stump makes many suckers, none of which will grow into a decent tree unless all of the other suckers are kept trimmed off. Became way too much work.

I've also heard once established they are very hard to kill off - much like pivot hedge.

You're thinking of the melaleuca tree. It was brought to the FL Everglades because it sucks up huge amounts of water and some land geniuses thought they could dry up the Everglades so they could use the land. It is related to the eucalyptus (you see them a lot in Cali) and can be a real allergy problem. I have heard it makes a great mulch. To my knowledge, they are poisoning them (hopefully not with the stuff the Forest Service used to use on hardwoods in order to plant pine forests in the 70s in Arkansas), but I do see large areas of dead melaleuca whenever I am driving through the glades. The meleleucas are not pretty trees either.

Here's a site for more information about the melaleuca.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/mequ1.htm

OOps, never mind the Hong Kong orchid is Bauhinia blakeana. I believe the paulownia is related to the Hong Kong orchid tree, which we have a lot of them in So Florida and the Keys. I had a huge one in my yard, beautiful flowers, but messy and it grew so big so fast we started encroaching on the neighbor more than I was comfortable with so it had to come down.