fast growing shade trees?

[Saddlehill Farm]

Dear All:

In your opinion, what is a fast growing shade tree?  We are in our 50's, and can't wait forever!  ha.   We are going to have alog home built, and need it for shade to protect the logs.   I do not want that weed tree that starts with a P, and has purple flowers in the spring.  We are in Zone 6. Thank you for your time and help!  Kim )

[Texas Ranger]

Yellow poplar, or tulip poplar, is fast growing and provides good summer shade.  Stay away form the oriental ash, they tend to be not thrifty and spread all over an open area.

[Saddlehill Farm]

well thank you Texas Ranger!

We will do just that.  You sure you don't have Georgia roots?  Because you are a Peach!   Kim )

[Texas Ranger]

Oh, gorsch.

[Arthur]

Kim

Here in australia we tend to use the wattle.  Its fast growing, good shade, hardy and a good starter for other garden plants needing shade. 

We have used them for regeneration of rainforest as when bigger trees take over they tend to dye out.

Have small yellow or white flowers and get to a height of 3 to 4 m in 18months or so.  They can grow bigger but not very often.

wonderful grain for walls, furniture and turning.

arthur

[Saddlehill Farm]

Hi Arthur!

How well would a Wattle tree grown in Eastern Tennessee? They have beautiul flowers. thanx! 

[Tom]

Might grow too good!   Look at the escaped Paulownia.   You probaby should stick with native species. 

[SwampDonkey]

Try box elder too. I know I'll probably get a few lashings for mentioning it. 

[Tom]

Is that a fast growing tree, Swamp Donkey?   I saw one at Woodbeard's and thought it was a magnificant tree.  It was about 3+ feet in diameter and branched out at about 7 feet.  It looked like it might cover an eighth of an acre.

[Daren]

What kind of logs are you using? I thought you wanted sun (and breeze) to get to a log home to keep the moisture down, a big reason the exterior goes bad. I am not an expert on it by any means, I just did a little research on it for myself if I ever built one. Everything I read stessed, get it up off the ground (high foundation) to keep water away, and don't plant anything close to the house that lets the logs stay wet after a rain. I may be all wet here, but the shady side of a normal sided house can get moldy.

[Arthur]

Hi Arthur!

How well would a Wattle tree grown in Eastern Tennessee? They have beautiul flowers. thanx!

wattle will grow just about anywhere.  we have a hugh variety.  some are in the mountains and colder areas others in the driest.  We are moderate here and the black and sally wattle is like a weed.

I cleared some for our drive 18months ago and we now have a patch of a few hundred 4m high in a 10m x 10m area.  They will need thinning but at the moment give good cover for the road.

arthur

[Arthur]

Might grow too good! Look at the escaped Paulownia. You probaby should stick with native species.

Tom

best way to control Paulownia is to plant it first in your cow fields or open the plantation up to grass and your herd.  The cows love it as fodder so you can use the trimmings for winter feed.  As its a runner any new shoots or new growth from seed gets mown down by the cows and you dont get an escape.

We did have the problem here but its controlled.

I like the grain and working with it.  Its like balsa but virtually with no costs.

arthur

[Tom]

I've sawed a little bit of it and believe I would enjoy it as a wood for working in the shop.  It's light and strong.  I know a couple of folks who are experimenting with it as a plantation tree.  So far they are deterred by the amount of labor envolved in creating a tall, clean bole. 

What concerns me is the number of trees I've seen in the Appalachians that have found their way to roadsides and open woods.  It is becoming quite a weed and a place that is already plagued with Kudzu doesn't need another errant, imported plant.

[Furby]

Tom,
The Boxelder grows pretty DanG fast when young.
But as has been stated in another thread, the branches don't hold up to wind and snow. Also they do tend to have a lot of branches fall off when they are older, simply from die back.
I have one I just cut down a month ago that was about 20-25' high, 30-40' crown and was made up of 8 or more trunks all under 6" dia.
Most of those "trunks" forked off a few feet up. This "tree" was around 6-8 years old.
I have another that is one trunk and over 3' dia. and real tall.
Having said all that, I DON'T like boxelders in my yard and don't really reccomend them!
Some people as you may notice on the other thread, really do like them. 

[bitternut]

I would plant a couple of sunburst locust. They grow very fast, produce light shade and the leaves curl up n die in the fall ( no raking needed ]

[SwampDonkey]

I'm not a real big fan of box elder, but they grow fast here. They are not native to New Brunswick, but have invaded our river valleys that are settled. Like Furby said, they are susceptable to wind, ice and snow and if they aren't pruned you can get about any shape and form imaginable. There was once a huge box elder next to grand father's house and he said it had to be cut down before it fell on the house. Well when they cut it, it was as sound as a nut and didn't have the typical red heart or shake that most do around here. I have to admit though, if it was on my lawn it would have to go because it was just to close to the house. We had to remove several in 1998 because of that big ice storm that was in the news. These ones we cut looked horrible after the ice tore about every main branch off.  Some areas may not have ice storms(or rarely), which is the case in an area about 30 miles north of here. In my area, if we get a storm out of the east or northeast in winter it will always bring ice.  I have some nicely shaped box elder that I keep pruned and straight. It's essential to minimize forking of the main stem and heavy loading of foliage on long lateral branches. We get some die-back here on small branches, which I equate to frost hardiness. Who knows where the parent stock came from originally when it was brought to the province. I'm sure my great grand parents never questioned it or cared, they just wanted shade trees. Heck, back then the lawns were never mowed, if ever only by cattle. 

[woodbowl]

I'm not familiar with some of those trees up north but E. Tenn. may be able to support a really fast growing tree that we have down here in the S. Ga. / N. Fl. area. It is called Mymosa (spelling??) Tell em' about it SD. It will really take off fast and get shade up quick. It's real pretty too. Trouble is, it's not as strong as some others. I guess that's the price to pay for fast growers. Wax myrtle is another fast grower. These two types can take over down here but are very nice if kept up in a yard.

[Saddlehill Farm]

Thank you everyone, for your suggestions on the shade trees. I will look at each tree mentioned and seriously consider each.  We have 18 acres, and I am devoting 7 acres for different kinds of hardwoods, evergreens, and flowering trees and flowering scrubs, such as lilac and crepe mytle, etc etc.  You are all so helpful!!!!

To Daren:  We are going to use Eastern White Pine for our log home.  The shade tree we will plant will not fan out over the roof,.. we are going to plant it far enough away so it  does not touch the house , but blocks the sun. The house has Southwestern exposure, so we wanted to give it some relief from the sun. You are correct about have the house up off the ground, and having rock around it so dirt cannot pop up and get it wet and dirty when it rains. We will have no bushes near it, as you said,.. but it has a back drop of woods, so it will not look naked, and will have different trees near it.  You neve built your log home?

[Bro. Noble]

When we moved into our old house 30 years ago,  we planted a pin oak in the back yard.  That thing is probably 100 ft tall and big enough that you can't reach around it.  It is a wonderful shade tree although makes a lot of leaves.  One thinks of oaks as being slow growing,  but pin oaks grow fairly fast and make a pretty good yard tree.   We just planted some pin oaks to the south of our new house------I'm 60

I like tulip poplar although we have never had one.  I like box elder rather than nothing,  but just barely

In our area,  mimosas don't usually get tall enough to be a shade tree,  but do make an attractive tree.  Here they freeze back some winters.

[Daren]

Kim, I haven't built one YET. I started building a home last year in the middle of 3 acres of 1000 row planted white pines 60' tall. I just dropped a few for a small clearing that was totally shaded, so I didn't use them to build an open concept 2400 ft2, 2 story cabin because of my moisture concerns. I sawed them on my mill to panel the 10' loft ceiling. I had it about 1/3+ done (framed in, windows/doors, electric...) and a guy offered me 2x what I had invested, so I took it. I am 37 and self employed (plumbing/heating contractor, hack woodworker and partime sawyer). My wife has set a 6 year deadline (before she turns 40) to get one built, I think I can do that . The next one may be log.