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Poplars

Populus

Poplars are of the "Live fast, and die young" school. The aspens generally last about 30-50 years. Hybrid poplars have an unknown life span, but based on their faster growth rate will probably between aspen and balsam. A balsam poplar is old at a century.

Summary:

• Very fast growth. Quick shade tree.
• Loam or clay soil.
• Need lots of water.
• At least 6 hours of full sun.
• Good shelterbelt tree.
• Good firewood tree.

Our Poplars

We carry five poplars ranging from the formal swedish aspen to the large balsam poplar. Sizes are of a mature healthy tree. Trees will vary considerably depending on local conditions.

Tembling Aspen

• 35-40 feet high, 10-12 feet wide, 5-8 inch trunk diameter.
• This tree has small leaves that move in the slightest breeze making a sound like a distant creek running over small stones.
• Ours are native wild seeded stock, may be male or female.

Balsam Poplar

• 60-90 feet high. 20-40 feet wide 24-36" trunk diameter.
• Our largest tree.
• Best tree for quick shade.
• Native wild stock, may be male or female.

Brooks No. 6 Poplar.

• 40-60 feet high, 25-35 feet wide. 10-16 inch trunk
• Faster growing than Balsam, and not as big.
• Hybrid poplar.
• This is a male clone. Pollen, but no cotton.

Hill Poplar

• About the same size as Brooks, but with large leathery leaves.
• Nice golden yellow fall color long after other leaves have dropped.
• More tolerant of drier locations.
• Best shelterbelt poplar.
• Female clone. Will produce lots of cotton and seeds.

Swedish Aspen

• Similar in height to Trembling Aspen, but with branches almost parallel to the trunk. Makes a tree that is very narrow.
• Golden fall colour.
• Leaves rustle in lightest breeze.
• Non-suckering
• Good tree for small space.
• Formal look. Looks good in spaced rows.

Use in the landscape

Because of their quick growth, poplar are good for the barren lot acreages that developers seem to love. Plant now. You will have some trees with some height in a few years. Meanwhile you can plant trees that take longer to grow. In a couple decades you can start taking down the poplars for firewood.

Alternate swedish aspen and meyer's spruce on your driveway for a formal looking entrance. The aspen will only take 3-4 years to look good. The meyers will take longer.

I saw one acreage that had a shallow drainage ditch on either side of the driveway, and balsam poplar planted every 20 feet. The poplar were huge, meeting overhead. Made for a stately entrance.

Poplar are a good shelterbelt species, especially in heavy clay soils. They need suplemental water or heavy mulch during the first 3 years.

When young they can put on several feet a year. Get a trio of sturdy 5 gallon potted poplar this summer, and with lots of water and a bit of fertilizer, you can hang your hammock in 5 years or less. "Why three?" you ask, "It only takes two trees to hang a hammock." With three, one at north, the other two at southeast and southwest, you can almost always put your hammock in the shade. If you plant 6, it's certain.

I like poplar for firewood. They don't provide as much heat per cord as spruce, but then they don't provide as much creosote on the inside of my woodstove. I find that I can cut up a cord of poplar in half the time it takes me to do a cord of spruce. Birch is better wood, but birch has to be split. The bark is so waterproof that a birch round will rot and grow mushrooms long before it dries out.

Natural History

Poplar are dioecious -- male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The tree's flowers are borne in catkins. Think 1" long chunks of green pencil. They bloom in late winter/early spring before the leaves open. The males release large quantities of pollen on the wind, which can travel unimpeded by leaves to the female flowers on another tree. A month or so later the females produce large quantities of cottony seeds that fly in the wind. Some people hate it for this reason. I think of it as warm snow.

Poplar and willow pollen is the first food for bees in spring.

Poplar self prune. As they mature, the lower branches get less sunlight, die, and drop off. A dead lower branch is not an indicator of trouble. Dead branches in the crown may mean insect activity, or that the tree is nearing end of life. If more than a third of the branches in the crown are dead, the tree should be removed if it's fall is likely to hit anything important.

Many poplars will produce a sucker when the root is damaged. Some will produce a sucker just because they can. These suckers are not generally at the base of the tree, but are 10 to 40 feet away. In this way a single poplar can become a grove of poplar. Each trunk is a 'ramet' and is genetically identical to the parent plant. Root connections between ramets persist.

My botany prof told a story of a man who attempted to poison a poplar growing in his lawn by drilling a hole in the trunk, and adding a strong solution of copper sulphate. He killed the entire grove, some of which were 75 feet away. Oops. The law of unintended consequences strikes again.

Warnings

• Poplars have large roots. Do not plant next to the house, their roots can crack foundations. Do not plant next to sidewalk, as they will lift the sidewalk blocks.

• Do not plant near your septic field, unless you have the type of field that are specifically designed to have trees and shrubs over them.

• Poplar are untidy trees. Everytime there is a strong wind they will shed leaves and twigs. Both are fine enough to mulch well when mowed. Poplar are self pruning. Kinding sized branches are shed from older trees.

• Balsam poplar grown in the open tend to lean a bit south, toward the sun. It's a bad idea to have one north of the house.

• Many poplar will sucker 20-30 feet from the tree. Mow if in the lawn, prune just below ground level in the garden. In my yard it takes me an hour twice a summer to grub out poplar suckers.