I’d avoid anything marketed as a “fast-growing tree” (hybrid poplars, Paulownia and the like). They tend to be weak-wooded, short-lived and disease-prone.
There is a tall hedging variety of arborvitae (“Green Giant”) that reputedly puts on several feet of growth a year under optimal conditions and rapidly creates a tall screen. I have a group of them that have grown OK but nowhere near the advertised rate (and deer have nibbled them here and there).
If you’re not down on all conifers and like coppery-russet fall color, dawn redwood and bald cypress are tough, fairly fast-growing deciduous conifers that are hardy surprisingly far north (you could check with your local university ag dept. on this).
One good source I’ve found for interesting hardy trees (1-4 foot range, generally) is Oikos in Michigan. They have some oak varieties that are touted for relatively rapid growth, plus a number of other interesting nut and fruit trees.
You’ll want locally grown native saplings, grown outside. That way they’re already used to local weather patterns. I’ve had good luck with Flame Maples, they grow fairly fast and seem pretty strong and hardy for WI. They’re also pretty and rather bushy at first. Sugar Maples are pretty good too, mine haven’t been doing that well but they’ve survived through whatever is wrong with them. Sounds contradictory but what I mean is they appear very determined to grow well despite sunscald and some sort of infestation.
The key to growing strong trees at a decent rate of growth is taking care of them properly. The first few years, water well, watch for sunscald, diseases and pests, and maybe fertilize (just remember that too much fertilizer can be just as harmful as not enough)
The UW Extension has decent information Trees & Shrubs — The Learning Store and http://hort.uwex.edu/topics/trees-shrubs
Like others have said, fast growth is nice, but the fastest growing trees also tend to be the shortest lived.
Correct. Our neighborhood had a LOT of Leyland Cypress (fast-growing evergreen, provides great screening) and Bradford Pear (non-fruiting, very pretty shape). They’re cheap, and the builders planted TONS of them, everywhere.
Trouble is, both varieties are very fragile. When we had a hurricane go through in 2003, 4 trees on our street went down. Two were Bradfords, two were Leylands. I think the problem with the Leylands is their roots are shallow; the Bradfords just have brittle wood.
So actually, you could try Leylands as long as you don’t plant too close to the house - they’ll offer prompt screening. However, do so with the plan that as you can, you’ll replace them by better long-term choices.
Also - check with your county or state to get a feel for what kind of trees are native to the area - when our last Leyland went down (we had 3: 1 died in the hurricane, we had another removed, and the third went down in a windstorm a couple years later), we did the research and planted a serviceberry tree / shrub. Not quite as good screening, but native and it’d doing well.
The fact that you call it a serviceberry (rather than a saskatoon berry) tells me that you might not be eating the fruit. If you don’t eat the fruit, give it a try - it’s very good.
Think habitat when it comes to planting. food & shelter for the multitudes of wildlife ( you do want wildlife right?) …what you have is a long term project to include a variety of shrubs and grasses, perennials, understory trees and long lived shade trees.
I like birch, dogwoods all varieties, service berry, nine bark, swamp oak, white oak, jack pine, tulip tree, red bud, magnolias…
It’s easy to find Red Maple seedlings. Just find a Red Maple and they’ll be all over the place. They take a couple of years to grow a couple of feet, and then spring up. A one to two foot tall sapling is easily transplantable if you can find those.
Some good advice here, especially about contacting the local home extension service.
Two other points:
BEFORE YOU PLANT - call Miss Dig, or Contractor’s One Number Alert, or whatever it’s called in your area. Where I live (Michigan) they will come out and mark all underground utilities for free, assuming you give them at least 3-4 working days lead time. I’ve had them out several times for this-n-that. They marked utilities with little plastic flags on wire, and also with spray paint, which will be gone after about 2 lawn mowings.
B) The previous owner put several small evergreens under the power lines at my place. I hired a tree guy to bring his tree spade and move them before they got to be too big. He mentioned a phenomenon he called “transplant shock”. Basically, the tree will stop growing above ground for a period of time while it spends its energy rebuilding the network of roots that were disrupted by the move. His rule of thumb was that you can count on about one year per inch of trunk diameter before the tree starts to show some decent growth above ground. That means that it’s possible to opt for a smaller tree now, and end up with a larger tree sooner than you would if you went for the bigger tree that didn’t do much for 5 years.
III) If you have any deer in your area, then starting about the middle or end of September, considering putting stakes and chicken wire around your new tree(s) if possible. One morning a few years ago I found a buck rub on one of mine where that damned stupid buck almost girdled my new tree while trying to get rid of the velvet on his rack.
If you get blooms on the shrub, my guess is birds. I was waiting for my saskatoon berries to ripen a couple of summers ago, and the birds ate them all the second they were ripe enough. I put a bird net on my shrub now.
Cleveland Pears are probably the fastest growing ornamental tree. They are slightly stronger than Bradford Pears although you should keep it somewhat sheltered from the prevailing wind/usual direction where you get severe weather from.
I planted a 4 footer in fall of 2009 and it’s already 10 feet tall with a trunk 4 inches in diameter.
I planted it with a southwest exposure which isn’t the best idea for this area because of said storms but I wanted it to grow rapidly. It can take all of the sun you can give it.
It’s nickname is the heart breaker tree for good reason though. The branches at the connection point with the trunk is the weak point so a severe storm can do a lot of damage.
Oh well it’s worked out beautifully so far. You’re just taking some chances with it.
Cleveland pears are supposed to be more breakage resistant than Bradfords, but both have been linked with invasiveness problems. Around here I see a lot of volunteer pears growing along roadsides. Whether or not this is considered a threat to wildlife habitat in your area is something the county extension service/university horticulture department in your area should be able to address.
The trees forum on Gardenweb has a lot of knowledgeable people willing to dispense useful advice and snark. Just don’t mention Bradford pears over there.
I second the plug for Oikos! what a nice reminder hadn’t thought of them in years, time for a visit again. They had the fist composting toilet I had ever seen, I used it to.
Honestly, I’d rather you didn’t compost my fists just yet. I have plans for them for the next 50 years or so. But you ARE welcome to them when I no longer need them, if you like.
I’m curious to know what type of trees you settled on, Sitnam.
After surveying the local damage from the recent storm from downed tree limbs, I’ll echo the advice of NOT planting Silver Maples.
If you haven’t gotten started or still have some room in your yard, I highly recommend planting Northern Red Oaks
As others have said, most trees are either both slow growing and have hard wood OR they’re fast growing and have soft wood. When most people think of Oaks they think slow-growing, but that seems to be more true of White Oaks. Northern Red Oaks grow quite rapidly, yet still manage to score a 1290 (relatively hard) on the Janka Hardness Test for wood.
There are fast growing Silver Maple trees that I wish wasn’t in my yard, or in the yards around me. They are very Tall by 10 years, but in the Spring they drop little red flower buds that are a pain, then they drop their seeds( which are great many) and make the lawn look brown, in the summer (or on any windy day) there are branches all over the place, then comes Fall and the leaves, some don’t fall all at once, so one is raking for many days( some years weeks)! Plus they attract box elder bugs which multiply by the millions. Once I came home from work and our garage looked like some one had spray painted it black. They get between the storm and regular windows and spot them all up!
and rather bushy at first. Sugar Maples are pretty good too, mine haven’t been doing that well but they’ve survived through whatever is wrong with them. Sounds contradictory but what I mean is they appear very determined to grow well despite sunscald and some sort of infestation.
