My neighbour has a copse of about four Paulownia on my boundary at Marysville - they're about 20 meters tall!! The leaves flatten my perennials when they fall in the autumn. Can't encourage him to poll them though. They look best and are more attractive if kept at about 2-3 meters.

The timber is worth a few bob. In it's cured state it is much sought after by cabinet makers.

They are a weed in some Shires in Qld.
Jane

I have been told they sucker like anything, is this true??
They do look lovely
Leyla

Leyla,
Paulownia fortuneii will definitely sucker at the first opportunity... to encourage suckering, drive a spade into the earth circa 50cm from the trunk. When suckers emerge, you can safely remove them without adversely affecting the tree. Paulownia also respond well to coppicing, if you dont get the desired height in the first years growth, coppice in the spring as new growth commences. I have achieved 6m growth from coppiced specimens, and have seen much greater heights achieved in a single growing season on a commercial plantation (around the 8m mark..heaps of fertilisers)
Hope that helps a little,
mrgnome2u
p.s. what is the soil type where your Paulownia were planted..this may have attribute to their demise/falling.. particularly if they were planted in a heavy clay..

Too bad you cut them up. They will sprout especially from damaged roots. If you have the stumps left, stand them back up in the whole asap and wait. Care for them as a new planting. Pulling the whole tree upright (get a tree remover to use the tools of his trade, bucket truck and all) to pull it up and compact soil, cable to "hold fasts" etc... Given the time spent in growing them, some time in saving them would have been well worth the efforts. And if for no other reason than to get sprouts! Transplanting sprouts, be careful to keep all "fine" roots and don't let them dry out! If it's windy the day you do this, immerse them in water as soon as they are lifted and right up to the moment you heal them in.

As for your luck; Tree size means weight considerations. Soil type and depth, soil moisture, wind strength, time of year, condition of tree all and more play into a domino effect as to whether your tree stands or not. When managing a forest, consideration is given to the likelihood of the average tree surviving and growing well. When managing a single tree or small group of trees in an urban setting or personal landscape, efforts are multiplied by the value attributed to the tree by the people benefiting from the tree. In short (you would have liked this sooner) a single tree in your yard can be worth thousands of times the same tree in the forest.

Was there lots of rain around the time your tree fell? That would probably have causes the roots to weeken do to fungas and mold growing on them wick make them weeken considerably, paulownias HATE water.

we had 4 large trees growing down the side of our house (euc, pine, beech and poplar)
In one storm they were all completely destroyed - struck by lightning! all of them! unlucky to happen, but lucky they all fell mostly down the side and not on the house.

We have 2 trees here called Catalpa - indian bean trees- We love them they have large almost lime green leaves and have white flowers in spring Deciduous like the Powton. it is bigger that this now

2015