How to Grow a Royal Paulownia Tree
The royal paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa) is a very dramatic flowering tree. Its coarse-textured bark, large heart-shaped leaves and abundant spring blooming make it a desirable addition to naturalized gardens or urban parks and highways. It is not suitable for the home landscape, but if you've got a woody area that needs some spring color, royal paulownia is king. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Royal paulownia tree
- Shovel
- Water
- Knife or garden shears
- Commercial mulch or other organic material
Instructions
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Determine a suitable planting site. Royal paulownia is hardy in zones 5B through 9. It prefers moist, well-drained soil in a location that receives full sun or partial shade. It should be protected from wind. In many areas of the southern United States, the tree has become naturalized.
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2
Prepare the tree for planting. Royal paulownia should be purchased as a balled-and-burlapped specimen and transplanted in the early spring. Cut away all wire and twine and remove half of the burlap covering the tree's rootball.
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Dig the planting hole. Prepare the planting hole by digging a hole that is three to four times the width of the rootball and equally as wide.
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Position and plant the tree. Place the tree in the planting hole. After determining that the tree is straight, add a small amount of the original soil to stabilize. Fill the planting hole with water and allow the rootball to absorb. "Watering in" assures that the transplant receives moisture immediately and helps to prevent transplant shock.
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Mulch the planting area. Spread a layer of mulch around the paulownia to help the ground retain moisture. If planted in a naturalized setting, other organic material such as pine needles, leaves or compost may be used.
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Tips & Warnings
Royal paulownia is also called the Empress tree or the Princess tree. It is a rapid grower and can reach heights of 50 feet and spread equally as wide.
The most attractive aspect about the royal paulownia is its vanilla-scented clusters of small tube-like blooms. The flowers are purple or violet and are almost two inches long. They form large clusters in mid-spring before the leaves emerge.
Royal paulownia can be a very messy tree so care should be taken in the choice of planting location. Seed capsules appear on the tree in fall and each capsule can contain 2000 seeds and they easily germinate wherever they fall or are carried. The tree is also deciduous so plant where leaves or falling seeds will not create problems in the landscape.
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Comments
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much more interested for plantation in bangladesh.
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I have 5 trees that I planted this spring, they are growing like crazy , my question is do they need to be suckered? ive been all over here and there and have not gotten a clear answer!
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I'm reading a lot about the paulownia tometosa and everyone is saying it grows fast. now, I've seen pictures of a year old plant, grown from seed and it's only about 6-8 inches high. i have the same problem with my seedling. can paulownia really grow fast when it's being grown from seed? sellers promise 20 feet high tree in two years and bloom in three years time. I'm not sure any of that's true when grown from seed. maybe it grows fast if you have a root cutting but I'm highly doubtful when it comes to seeds. now, I personally have a 2 month old seedling of paulownia tometosa and I'm pretty sure it's the slowest growing tree/plant/weed I ever came across. i have laburnums and albizias that sprung out of the seed and grew fast, aren't sensitive to heat, overwatering, wind or cold. the paulownia is extremely sensitive to all of these factors and it shouldn't be. it slips out of the seed and then waits, doesn't grow and eventually, after a few weeks, dies off over night. the one seedling I have is about an inch high and an inch wide. not much for a 2 month old fastest growing tree, huh? some people offer special fertilizers and compost mixtures online but I doubt it's very useful when you have a tiny little seedling that grows very very slowly.
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Jasmine Kaur
Nov 11, 2010
The best aspect of Paulownia Trees is their rapid growth.In just one year they can attain a height of 10-18 feet and within 6-10 years you have a fully grown shade tree that would normally take over 20 years to fully mature. -
Jasmine Kaur
Nov 11, 2010
The best aspect of Paulownia Trees is their rapid growth.In just one year they can attain a height of 10-18 feet and within 6-10 years you have a fully grown shade tree that would normally take over 20 years to fully mature.
