hey ... welcome to Gw ... if i missed you before..

see link..

much hated..

very invasive.. hard to kill the roots..

whats the upside??? marketing hype???

you can do so much better ... and we might give some suggestions.. if you were to give us some facts on the project

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

They are truly invasive in NC. When I drive through western NC on the way to the Smoky Mtns, they are all over the side of the road.

Planting one would be like your neighbor planting a kudzu / bamboo fence on the property line?

Please don't.

Look into Catalpa and see if it grows in your area

teeboo49, this pic from a run down section of Baltimore should answer many of your questions. You asked: CANT YOU JUST MOW and the answer is, its not that simple, as in this case, the seed lands in places where no one ever mows. The fact that you can go to your town's dump and see hundreds of these Chinese weeds should tell you to stay away from it.
{{gwi:391499}}

those hybrid cottonwood trees might grow faster. I dont think they are invasive because most hybrids are sterile.

Some state department of horticulture should take it upon itself to develop a fully sterile (no pollen/no seeds) Paulownia. Sure they get big, fast and have an aggressive root system, but if I had a big back yard away from anything buried and wanted a fast growing shade tree...and wasn't into rareties like I am...I'd plant one.

At UNC Wlimington's center for marine science campus there are 3 big empress trees planted against the side of the building and underplanted with palmettos. I think (hope) they wanted to plant Catalpa as they used mostly native trees and shrubs everywhere else. They have only been there for 10-12 years, so you can go check them out to see how huge they can get in that amount of time. Also, note the weedy seedlings growing out of the shrubs, and the 15' sapling that (as of last month) is growing against the building. It was a seedling that didnt get pulled, and now keeps re-sprouting from the cut base. As far as buying one locally in ILM, I don't think I have ever seen one for sale around. You could try and get transplanted garden or pender pines to order you one, but they have so many less invasive choices for ornamental trees in stock.

Here is a link that might be useful: NC forest service fact sheet

I personally, love the empress tree despite it's invasive nature. Typically seedlings can be mown down in a well kept landscape, I am looking into selling some next year (though, I am a ways from wilmington).

I took a cutting the other day, if it propogates successfully it will be for sale next year.

Some people push crystal meth, some sell baby products containing lead or other toxins, others are purveyors of paulownia ... all pretty disgraceful IMO.

If a State's Department of Forestry or Department of Natural Resources, the people in charge of HELPING the environment, don't want you to plant an Empress tree, think about it.

They are invasive weeds in much of the country.

Next time I visit the Redwoods of CA or swamps of Mississippi or hills of North Carolina and instead of the natural beauty I see Empress weeds you will be who I think of.

I have a few types.. I pollard them every year never seen a flower or a seed. I do get root suckers from time to time but snap them off at ground level and there not a problem. I think I got almost 15 ft of growth this year from a 4ft pollard in april. I only grow them for the large juvenile leaves so I have never had a problem so far. root cuttings are a very easy way to propagate them if you know where one is already.

OK- here's my Paulownia story:

Paulownia's are the devils own tree.
I had two ancient Paulownia's removed from the front yard of our new
house in May of '07. I had the roots ground out as deep as the largest
grinder would go. The roots shoots that came up that year were
horrendous- one every foot covering the entire yard. It was literally a
daily chore to keep up with them- I went out every single morning spring
through summer to cut them by the HUNDREDS. They were impossible to
pull.

They came up again equally as bad in '08.

In '09 they slowed down a bit on my property but began seeking new areas
as I saw them in neighbor yards- not only on the adjoining properties
but across the street as well.

Spring of '10- three full years since I had the trees taken out- and I was still getting shoots.
THREE YEARS!
By '11 I only got two or three and was FINALLY able to close the chapter on this horrendous experience.

They are one tenacious tree.

They got there revenge. shouldn't have removed them LOL

They are not invasive here (we are a summer-dry climate) and the people that I know that have them cut them back every year either to the ground or close to it. They reward us by producing almost instant shade for most of the summer. Remember that invasiveness is dependent on location. All you have to do to kill one here is to stop watering it.

Neighbor planted one 5 years ago.....it does grow very fast but the wood is weak and breaks easily. The tree grew to about 30 feet in those 5 years then fell on their house during a bad storm. It never flowered here in zone 6

Anything that is labeled as "fast growing" is going to have issues. Empress tree does have weak wood. Callery Pear has a poor branching structure. Silver maple is also weak wooded. Mimosa has invasive roots. Anything that is "fast growing" are going to have issues. Pollarding is a good idea, but do it after flower. This way you get the beautiful flowers, the seeds don't form, and you still get flowers next year.

Not a terrible compromise Logan. You still have suckers to deal with and you have to Pollard it as long as it lives but not unreasonable.

Sara, it is foreign to me to think about planting a tree which needs watered to survive, FOREVER. Then again I don't live in a desert. Funny how folks move to beautiful, exotic places and want to change them isn't it.

Toronado this is a classic Mediterranean climate - definitely different gardening here than in other climes. I can't imagine having to use insecticides or herbicides. I also can't imagine a garden shutting down for the winter. For ornamentals we don't have any serious pests and since most of us use drip irrigation, weeds are not much of a problem. So 'change' is relative and all of us that have gardens are using artificial means of some sort, I suspect. Here it is definitely all about water.