On Fri, 22 Oct 2004 19:41:01 GMT, "Bill Case"
wrote:

Hi,
What are the fastest growing trees in USDA Zone 5 (Amer. Horticultural Zone
8)?
I'm interested in both evergreens and broadleaves.

Thanks

Bare in mind that the fastest growing trees are also the weakest trees, so
you don't want to plant them where they will someday blow down & mash the
house. There are poplars & willows that'd be huge within a single decade,
but in fifteen years could be big enough to destroy the house come a
moderately high wind. Trees that grow slower are less prone to snapping in
a high wind. Trees that grow more slowly & have taproots are not likely to
snap in two in a high wind nor uproot & tip over the way douglas firs do
but cedars don't.

Pacific Red Elderberry grows to fifteen feet in one or two years & will
keep growing to twenty or so, a giant shrub or a small tree. Other
elderberry species also have rapid growth if they are from wild stock;
cultivars grow more slowly. Our red elderberry has the most beautiful
wortled bark. The trunks remain smallish; the wood is extremely hard, but
hollow so not heavy, so if it breaks in high wind it won't damage anything
where it falls. If it were ever necessary to cut it down, it would grow
back from the root. Most elderberries thrive all the way down to zone 4 or
3.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com