I would remove the side shoot completely. Rate of growth for Paulownia is typically extraordinary...yours is no exception. Next year spring, I would remove all the branches up to the height you want branching to start (for a mature tree) and let it go from there.

For the Royal Empress Tree, root flare is not as critical as it is for other tree species...I wouldn't worry about it. The vigor is an indication that planting depth probably isn't going to be much of a factor.

Angel, there are States where the Department of Natural Resources would rather you plant no tree than an Empress.

take the right one off ... cut it at about 2 feet.. to get rid of all the hanging weight ... then take it at the branch collar properly ...

a good tree saw can be had for about 10 bucks ... and worth it ... lumber saws dont work that great ...

as toro cryptically noted ... if its is considered invasive in your area.. get rid of it ... call your county extension office

i dont like that i see potting media in the soil ... amending planting holes for trees is not favored.. but i suspect it wont matter for this fast growing weed like tree ...

ken

Angel, where do you live (nearest big city, or whatever)? Your profile and username field doesn't give any clues, and that information is very, very, very, very important when it comes to gardening or growing things. It's also necessary for the best answers to most of your gardening questions.

This is a fast growing and cheap tree which grows to a large size. There is also white flowered cultivar. See image from Asia:

I believe they are draught, rain and disease resistant. But you do need to cut off the wrong branches every year; otherwise, it will end up very ugly - cheap looking.

Jujujojo, as mature trees how do they do with the wind? Here they seem like 30ft weeds. At MOBOT theirs always has shaggy foliage and seems like hollow branches? Yours actually look pretty good!

toronado3800 Zone 6 StLouis(6) , I think correct pruning is needed to have a very thick trunk and an airy top. This also has to do with genetic. The cheap ones are the cheap ones.

First thanks you all for comments. My zone is 9b, the tree is Paulownia Elongata and apparently a good Royal Empress specie and non-invasive.

After I verify about the tree with State Natural Resources.

Then my question is should i cut it now or wait to late winter or first week of spring?

Thanks

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5, What you see in the soil is granular fertilizer 6-6-6 also i have 20-20-20 and super thrive vitamin solution. Thanks

As Ken will confirm, fertilization is unnecessary. And you have overdone it.

Good to hear it is the non invasive one.

Guess I'd wait until the heat of summer was done with.

Guys, when pruning that low is there a concern about the soil touching the pruning cut?

I think proper fertilization in poor condition is okay. So that you will not end up a tree with hollow trunk or fragile statue. This is only the case if you grow it as ornamental.

I think that if we're asking if it's okay for soil to be in contact with a pruning cut, we can safely say that plant was installed too deeply!

+oM

I received the tree in December 2014 in dormant, the tree was around a foot high.

By the first week of March 2015 my two year old son pulled the tree out from pot so i put it back and i had cut it back to 2" from ground then two branches came out and that is what you see in the picture above one thick one and the one next to it. Thanks

It sounds like you're on the right track. Here in Maryland, the only recommended way to prune these trees is with a chainsaw right at ground level.

All earlier comments notwithstanding, sure looks to be a nice tree!

+oM

hairmetal4ever(Z7 MD) , I swear that nobody does anything to invasive trees and shrubs in Maryland. The shrubs are all Japanese honeysuckles. Maybe they are mixed with Native honeysuckles.

I will say it appears that someone (state, county, not sure) does seem to be making rounds clearing out the kudzu, mile-a-minute vine, and some other understory invasives in PG and Howard Counties this summer (last summer as well). They also take out or at least kill Pyrus calleryana.

does this tree get flowers. Some pic show lots of purple flowers, others show none, why are the pics so different, and if it gets flowers, when does it get them, at 5', 8' 10' when?

Yes, it gets flowers. But to do so it needs to be sufficiently mature and also to have old wood. The flower buds are formed the previous season so pruning can remove them. If grown as a coppice for foliage effect it will not flower because all the wood is young. The pictures are different simply because they show different stages of maturity.

Original poster hasn't been on here in 3 years. But for anyone else reading here that cares typical behavior with these trees is production of more than one main stem, partial dying back during winter - although perhaps not so much of this last in USDA 9 - during the early years. With a stage eventually being reached where this stops, is followed by the commencement of flowering.

Ecologically these are pioneer trees that shoot up quick in forest clearings, to flower comparatively young and heavily, in the manner of cherry trees - original poster may even have seen flowers by now. Along with the mess that the spent leaves, flowers and woody seed capsules of paulownias make (if plant asked about has fruited yet).

There can be as many as 17 species depending on the interpretation (eFloras Flora of China recognizes 7). Conventionally the English common names empress tree, royal paulownia and so on are used specifically for the P. tomentosa that is by far the most prevalent and familiar species in the West* - it should have been specified in the original post that P. elongata was being asked about.

*In garden settings at least often represented by P. tomentosa 'Lilacina' specifically

Embo, I was answering Joan Bella's question. She revived the old thread.

Yes.