Fast-growing shade trees?

[treesmith]

My BIL has found 20 acres he is intent on buying in the near future, and he asked me last night if I could recommend some fast-growing trees for shade, etc. I haven't had the time to search it on the net, but in the meantime, can any of you tree experts name a few varieties that you would recommend? He won't have the money to plant any half-grown mammoth or somesuch. He'll be buying it nursery size.

He asked me about pecans...how long before they'll bear. (These wouldn't be for shade, just for the benefit of pecans...) I told him his kids might get a few off of them years from now.

 

[lumberjack]

Fast growing tree normally means short lived tree around here.

 

[Al Smith]

Tulip poplar can get as large as an oak but they can also turn into hazard trees which they often do .FWIW even this far north I've seen growth rings 3/4" wide .

Most times around here they are planted in sub divisions along with a variety of more hardy trees then removed after a period of time .

 

[sawinredneck]

Bradford Pear is about as fast growing as anything I know, they use the Hell out of them here in new construction because they shade so fast. But they are weak, suffer from wind damage easily and just shatter when they fail!
I'm not a fan!

 

[FJR]

Yup, it is tough to recommend a fast growing shade tree even though there are many out there, because they all have some drawbacks. Have to figure what drawbacks are going to be the most and least of your concern in your situation. Where are they going to be planted? Close to the house? Middle of the yard?

 

[flushcut]

I would plant silver maples with some better slower growing hardwoods mixed in and make a management plan to remove the silver maples before they get huge and start breaking down. It really depends on what his plans are build site? recreation land?

 

[treesmith]

Initially a mobile home, I think. Build in the future. He's just pondering right now. Liable to be a couple of years before he plants anything. I think I dampened his spirits by telling him it wouldn't be an overnight deal.......it's gonna take some T-I-M-E.

 

[NeTree]

Bradford Pear is about as fast growing as anything I know, they use the Hell out of them here in new construction because they shade so fast. But they are weak, suffer from wind damage easily and just shatter when they fail!
I'm not a fan!

Yup; I advised a customer 5 years ago against planting a row of 30 of them. Now... every single one is destroyed from the October snow storm. I'm almost LOL'ing.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I had good luck with Dalbergia sissoo in the past. Grows pretty fast. Had a tendency to stand up to some good winds. Probably do good in Alabama.

 

[canadiantreeman]

Poplars, birch, alder, silver maples...pretty much any species that is considered a 'pioneer.' Plant pioneer, establish, then plant long term shade trees underneath, let them establish, remove pioneer's when long term trees are established.

JMO!

 

[Koala]

Need more info about the soil and the site.
Does he want to grow them in isolation or as group trees?
If it's possible , this second option is the best choice, IMO.
Honey or black locusts come to mind, or paulownia for example. Many different options, it all depends by his project.
Then I can think about fast growing trees here, don't know much about Alabama trees.

 

[Tree Reb]

You're right about Paulownia, you can't get much faster growing. http://www.paulowniamanagement.com.au/

They'd grow in Alabama pretty quick, and he could mill them later.

 

[treesmith]

How fast does Paulownia grow? What native tree is it most like?

I suggested sawtooth oaks, as I have seen them grow fairly fast, at least compared to other species of oaks. I wish I had planted shade trees when I first got married. Then I might have some decent shade now. I have 4 maples (all reds) that I planted 15+ years ago, and they are growing, but maples aren't much for shade IMO. I have one water oak that I transplanted after we moved into the house. It had come up behind (and nearly underneath) our mobile home. It had a gnarly crook in it that looked terrible. Within three years, the crook had completely straightened itself, and now the trunk is as straight as they get. With some judicial pruning, I hope to eventually have a beautiful shade tree one day.

 

[Bodean]

Ailanthus could probably cover it in a few years..

 

[Koala]

How fast does Paulownia grow?

Very difficult to determine the exact growth rate of a tree. Too many different factors affect his growth
Ailanthus and Paulownia, just like Robinia, can grow from seed to an height of 6-8 ft (maybe more) in a couple years.
They grow very fast when they're young. If you google it you can find some research about it.
But it's just statistics, every single tree has its own story.
That they grow fast that's a fact. Fast for a tree, of course.
If your BIL wants shade very fast, better he sets his clock on the time of trees.
If he is in a hurry, he'd rather buy a few sun umbrellas.

 

[Ax-Man]

You guys kill me. This is what makes for good business for us tree guys. I used to make the same recomandations when we had the nursery of planting fast growing weed trees along with good long term hardwood trees. What usually happens is the property gets sold, the weed trees get too big, too quick for just simple homeowner removals and end up ruining the good hardwoods because of competion for sunlight and moisture.

Good harwoods can grow pretty fast if they don't have competition from other trees and have the space to develop into mature trees.

Personally I would recommend Red Oak or one of the species of Red Oak that grow in your area. Some of the cultivars of Red Male are fast growing. The only problem with these trees are the surface feeding roots as they mature.

I would just plant the good trees and forget the fast growing trees that cause problems down the line.

 

[Cobleskill]

My son asked me what kind to plant in his yard. I suggested Red Oak. I also suggested he not plant 8 or10 footers like most people prefer. I explained that a 4 footer would be cheaper to buy and probably take off and start growing faster than the big tree with the small root ball. He bought the big ones. Oh well.

 

[Al Smith]

Once a red oak gets a good set of roots they will throw out a canopy . A beech is not a bad yard tree either but I'm not certain weather they grow in Alabama or not .Too bad about the ash because when in the open they grow (grew)relatively fast .

 

[treesmith]

A good friend of mine has an oak in his yard that is absolutely beautiful. It's in the same class as red oak, I'd say, judging by the leaves, but it's not our common red oak. The bark looks slick like a water oak, but the leaves look more like red oak, except they are wider, with more "points". Best I can tell, it's a Quercus texana. My dad calls it a spanish oak. Anywho, my buddy and his wife got married a few months after my wife and I, and when clearing off to put in a mobile home, this tree was a slender little whip, growing up through the bumper of an old car. He carefully drug the car away from the tree, and today (22 years later) it's prolly 50' tall, with a crown spread of nearly the same, and a DBH of ~24". I've offered him money for it if he'd transplant it for me.... He's given me a bunch of small sprouts from it, but somehow in the hot part of the summer, I always forget to water them and lose them.

I notice no one has mentioned sycamores. Do they not grow fairly fast? I planted one in my yard a few years ago and it is doing well. Not a speed-grower by any means, but it is noticeably growing.

 

[Cobleskill]

Sycamores grow around here and I always wanted to plant some. The phone prefix for our area was SY - Sycamore. They are always offered as potted in catalogs - they must not transplant well bare rooted. I have read they are susceptible to anthracnose. The catalogs are usually sold out early on them, so they would seem to be popular, but I don't see many around.

My tree book says fast growing in moist sites. See any growing in your neighborhood?

 

[treesmith]

Yeah, there are bunches of them down in the bottoms. I dug this one up 4 or 5 years ago and brought it up to the yard. I had located a couple more that I wanted to transplant, but they had flaws I didn't like. Prolly would have corrected as young as they were, but I wanted really straight trunks. I think sycs make great shade trees, but they are sneeze/allergy machines at times. Gotta love chipping sycamore.....