Top Seven Fastest Growing Trees

Summer is coming and you are ready for your spring planting. Shade trees might be on your mind - that is, something that will provide you a little relief during the heat. If so, and you are in a hurry to get your shade trees up and running, there are some specific species to keep in mind. Here are the top ten fastest growing trees - which of course vary depending on where you live.

1. Empress Tree - Pulownia - This tree is also called the Royal Empress. It grows 10 to 15 feet per year with an expected height of 35 to 50 feet at its third year and 40 to 50 feet in height at maturity. Some people claim theirs has grown as high as 18 feet in the first year. The tree likes full or partial sunlight, is adaptable to soil conditions and has good drought tolerance. In the winter, this tree becomes covered with fuzzy, pea sized buds. By spring, the tree explodes with purple blooms and smells like gardenia and jasmine. It provides a nice dense canopy by summer with large tropical looking leaves - which not only provide great shade but is easy to clean up in the fall.

2. Willow Hybrid - Salix Hybrid -This tree will, on average, and under normal conditions, grow six feet per year. Under ideal conditions and on good sites the growth rate is even faster, up to twenty feet a year. Most people plant the Willow Hybrid as a hedge, screen, windbreak, or to line a road or drive. You can expect this tree to be over 20’ tall and 15’ wide in just three years. Its full maturity level is up to 75 feet tall. The downside of this tree is that the branches are weak and snap easily, making for a messy yard and lots of clean up. But if you need quick shade, this one will provide it.

3. Lombardy Poplar - Populus nigra "Italica' - These trees are somewhat thin and have upward-sloping branches rather than being canopy like, which means people plant them together in rows to create more of a living wall or privacy screen. These trees will grow as much as six feet per year, get up to 30 to 40 feet in three years and have a maturity height of 40 to 60 feet. The tree has a unique look and songbirds love these trees for nesting and shelter.

4. Hybrid Poplar - Populus Deltoides - This tree grows 8 to 10 feet per year reaching around 30 to 40 feet by year three and 50 to 70 feet at full maturity. It has dense green foliage and an oval shape. It is easy to grow, tolerates poor soils, including acidic, alkaline or wet soils and thrives in virtually any growing condition - what more could you ask from a tree?

5. Nutall Oak Tree - Quercus Nuttalli - This tree is also called the red oak, Red River oak, and pin oak. It is often found on poorly drained clay flats and low bottoms of the Gulf Coastal Plain and north in the Mississippi and Red River Valleys. This tree grows 7 to 8 feet per year, 25 to 30 by three years and 50 feet at maturity. It does grown acorn or winter buds that are easily confused with the pin oak. Many use this tree for its lumber. This tree grows well in poorly drained areas. During the winter, squirrels love the acorns as it supplies a great supply of them.

6. Eucalyptus Tree - Eucalyptus Polyanthemos - This tree grows 6 to 8 feet per year, 20 to 30 feet by its third year and 40 feet at maturity. It leaves a fragrant scent all year around. There are many types and varieties of Eucalyptus. The Silver Dollar Tree is popular with its dusty blue-green leaves. Many use the bark of this tree for fragrance in their closets or drawers. There are no leaves to rake and its green year around. If you own pets, you can also pull some of the leaves off your Eucalyptus and place them around the outside of your house as it repels fleas.

7. Weeping Willow - Salix Babylonica - This tree grows 4 to 8 feet per year, 15 to 30 by its third year and 40 to 50 at maturity. It thrives in a wide range of soils and moisture conditions. This tree resembles a falling canopy and has a dramatic weeping shape. It has the ability to absorb standing water so it is often planted in trouble spots where water stands in puddles. These trees are naturally found near rivers, lakes and wetlands.

While these are just a few of the trees you can purchase that grow fast and provide shade, they are some of the most popular and fastest growing. Talk to your local nursery or arborist about your landscaping needs and determine which specie of tree is best for you.

Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.

Saving Money with Trees

Everybody is looking for ways to cut energy costs these days. According to the Department of Energy, strategic planting of as few as three trees can provide the average household with an energy savings of between $100-$250 annually. How can you use trees to save energy?

First, understanding how our homes are heated or cooled by temperatures outside is important. During the winter, homes can gain warmth through the sun and south facing windows due to the sun being low in the sky. East and west windows will also provide small amounts of sunlight into your home in the winter. This free energy can represent 5% to 20% of the energy needed to heat your home. Cutting out wind and air leaks can also help maintain the warmth in your home.

As for the summer, blocking out unwanted heat is the secret to maintaining a comfortable home. This is where planting trees that create shade can help you conserve energy. To know where to strategically plant your trees, identify these conditions:

• Figure out which side of your house faces north.
• Draw your house on a piece of paper with north facing the top of page. Show on the house drawing the approximate location of east and west-facing windows.
• Draw in the approximate location of the major features of your yard: driveway, property lines, power lines, existing trees.
• Find north exposure. Note shadows in your drawing.
• Evaluate where trees will be most beneficial
• Look at planting shade trees due west of west-facing windows.
• Look at planting an evergreen windbreak tree to the north and west.
• Select and mark your best planting site so that it doesn’t conflict with existing trees, wires, etc.

Planting trees strategically is important. For the most shade, plant near west and east windows while avoiding planting trees in front of south windows. Select trees that can be planted within twenty feet of the window and that will grow at least ten feet taller than the window. When space permits, use as many trees as needed to create a continuous planting along all major west and east facing windows. Deciduous trees will provide maximum summer shade while minimizing winter shade.

Besides creating shade, your trees also can serve as a windbreak. Trees are ideal wind filters; they bend gently with its force slowing down turbulence. For maximum wind protection, you need enough trees along with trees that are dense and tall enough. The ideal windbreak tree is a dense evergreen whose branches extend from ground level to a height at least twice as tall as the building being sheltered. Windbreak trees need to be clustered together to reduce wind going between the trees. The most efficient way to do this is to plant trees in rows perpendicular to the primary winter wind direction—usually running along the west and north sides of the property. Since the wind will increase some at the edges of the windbreak, not only should the trees be taller, but the windbreak should be much longer than the buildings being sheltered. To keep dense branches to the ground, evergreens need full sun that means they must not be overcrowded.

Trees do a lot more than help you lower your energy costs and provide birds with a place to perch. Trees increase the value of your home, reduce air pollutants, and make life comfortable all while saving people on their energy bills.

Andrew Johnson is the owner of Central Texas Tree Care, a leading tree service provider in Central Texas (Travis County and surrounding areas) offering services such as pruning and removals, cabling and bracing as well as arborist reports, diagnostics, pest management, fertilization and Austin tree service trusts. For more information please visit http://www.centraltexastreecare.com.