Unfortunately, if a tree is fast growing it is also weak wooded. Your Silver Maple is fast growing and as you can see, it is weak wooded. That's why it suffered damage from storms.

Yes I get that but, any ideas on something else that might not be so much of a problem? Maybe it won't grow quite as fast but still be of some size in ten years.

"Unfortunately, if a tree is fast growing it is also weak wooded"

Not always true - there are a few fast-growing trees that are also strong. Baldcypress, Dawn Redwood and Tulip-tree are the ones that are best in this regard.

Resin

Sycamore is one of my favorite trees if not my favorite. London Planetree is the hybrid mentioned above. Am. Elms can be very fast growing too. The Yellow poplar is also a great choice and a favorite tree of mine. No tree is perfect but these are desirable trees. Red Maple 'October Glory' is a fast growing variety for what is ordinarily a medium growth rate species. River Birch is fast, Dawn redwood is a fast one, White pine is a fast one, Green Ash is a fast one, Honeylocust is a fast one. I still do prefer the sycamore and yellow poplar because the others have some pretty annoying surface roots that could be a problem.

Water and willow oaks can also grow pretty fast with ample water, but maybe not as fast as you want, and they can be difficult to grow under. Of the trees mentioned, I think the Liriodendron or the thornless honeylocust might be your best bet.

Personally, I don't like Sycamore or London Plane trees, but they are fast growing.

Try Google Image to see pictures of the trees, and maybe if there is an arboretum nearby, go and see if any are growing there.

I have Cucumber Magnolia, Dawn Redwood, Bald Cypress, English Oak, Sawtooth Oak, American Sycamore - all grow quite rapidly with attention.
Tulip Tree is weak wooded as I lost mine during our October Surprise Storm. That is my $00.02 on this otherwise nice looking tree.

In case you want to look it up, the scientific name for the "tulip tree" also known as "yellow poplar" is Liriodendron tulipifera. It is a relative of the magnolia and has beautiful flowers.

It is not a poplar, that is just one of the common names.

Here is a link that might be useful: Liriodendron tulipifera

6 to 8 foot bare root shingle oaks, planted in 2000 are now growing 3 to 5 feet per year ....

red/scarlet/black oaks doing 2 to 4 ....

with 2 retards that just want to do anything.. lol ... 38 out of 40 not bad odds for success ...

it is an old wives tale that oaks are slow growing...IMHO .. the best heritage tree you can plant ....they will be here hundreds of years after i am gone ...

i personally .. you all know what i am going to say .. lol .. hate maples as i like to garden under my trees ... they are wonderful in other peoples yard.. parks .. etc ... but not my choice ...

maples/poplars[real ones]/willow are all fast growing.. fast to die.. weak trees ..

i grew up in suburbia each 55 foot wide lot had a sycamore... drops leaves all year .. and when the seed balls drop it was a nightmare .... and now they are ruining all the sidewalks ....

find a good local tree farm .... and make plans for planting bare root stock in march/april of next year .... or fall if they will guarantee over the winter .... bare root will be much cheaper than bigger ball and burlap stock ....

ken

Krazyaroider:

Just a little note about tuliptree being weak wooded, etc. Yes, you are right, the wood is not especially tough. I am sorry you lost yours, but these trees can last a long, long, long time. Khose in the Joyce Kilmer memorial forest in NC are up to 400 years old. And if any one wonders how long these trees can live without significant damage that impairs their beauty, go to Monticello, Jefferson's home in Charlottesville, VA.

There is one tree on each side of the mansion. The larger and older one cannot be confirmed to have been planted by Jefferson, but it is so old and large that for years people thought it must have been. It must, in any case be just about 200 years old, is at least 8 feet in diameter, and is a wonder to behold. The other on the other side is a little smaller, and perhaps a bit younger, but it is huge nevertheless and has not suffered any significant injury in its life time either. And in case you are not familiar with Monticello, it is right on the very top of a small mountain, exposed to all the terrors or the weather in that region.

If someone tells you that a tree is weak wooded, but you see magnificent old specimens here and there, you can say, "yes, it is weak wooded, but look at that tree over there--it is 200 years old and still going strong."

For another example fron our colonial history--the largest one at Mt Vernon, our great founder George Washington's home, has been documented to have been planted under the personal direction of George himself. It is a wonderful, huge, massive glory of a tree.

One of the Jamestown plantation houses I visited a few years ago has a row of these tuliptrees planted in front--there must be 6 or 7--I can't remember. They are all there, undamaged, in their massive glory. I don't think any were lost since they were planted many, many, many yers ago. And all of these trees are planted on a high bluff overlooking the river, exposed to all the hurricanes that may have made their way up that river since they were planted.

So there!

Well, forgive me--I am in a "ranting" mood this afternoon!!

--Spruce

To add to those suggestions above:
The Catalpa might be something to consider. They are fast growing and have an enjoyable shape, leaves, and flowers. Wouldn't want 5 or 6 of them, but one makes a nice specimen tree. They do have beans to contend with and probably won't live much past 50-60 yrs.
The Willow oak is the fastest growing oak I am familiar with. Can achieve 46' in 17 yrs. They make a fairly clean tree that looks good and is large.
Other suggestion would be a pine of some type.

We visited Monticello a couple of years ago and here's one of the Tulip Poplars Spruce speaks of. While the house is impressive, it was the trees I couldn't keep my eyes off. The canopy is heavily cabled, but it looked to be healthy and in good condition otherwise.

A fast tree for me has been Honey Locust 'Skyline'. Has nice form and lovely fall color. It was planted in 2000 as small container tree and is now around 25'. Some of the Red Oaks can also be surprisingly fast growers when happy.

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Basic:

Thanks for the pictures--wonderful!

Tell me more about skyline--does it have a more erect form than some cultivars, which seem to me to spread too fast into a broad vase-like form? There are wonderful honeylocust in my hometown of Westfield, NJ, but I have no idea what the cultivar is. I sure would like to know.

--Spruce

From my experience tulip trees are only weak wooded when they are crowded, which makes them tall and slender. When they are grown in the open they have a thicker trunk and are much stronger. Mine was uprooted, but with 130mph winds, that's to be expected.

>Another good choice is a DED resistant American elm. I got mine from the >Elm Research Institute--I think they call theirs (several different clones are >available) "liberty elms.". There is some disagreement about what elms are >really disease resistant. Some people claim the "Princeton elm" is good, but >others say its resistance is not established. There are other cultivars with >their own claims. You can do your own research and make your own >decision.

I'm convinced that 'Princeton' has good resistance. You can read the USDA research here:
http://www.elmpost.org/report1.htm

'Valley Forge' came out on top in this study, and 'Princeton' did well. One advantage of 'Princeton' is that it has been in cultivation for many decades, since before DED came to the USA, so there are plenty of mature specimens around, showing that it has a nice mature form. 'Valley Forge' has only been around as a cultivar for a short time. 'Valley Forge' is a pain to grow, because of its reluctance to grow straight when it is young, in part because it grows so darn fast.

BTW, I noticed Home Depot is carrying 'Princeton' elms this spring. They are ~8 feet tall in large pots for $109.

Alex

I have a cultivar of Osage Orange that is fruitless and thornless called "Whiteshield". It grew about 3ft last year.

Wow! Thanks everyone for the great feedback! I will find pics and research.

Almost any of these, and almost any tree in general, will grow fairly fast with ample water and good root growth. One way to be sure that this need is met is to mulch around the tree. Any mulch will do, although I am partial to aged hardwood mulch, double-ground. Spread it out no deeper than 4", with no mulch in the 2-4" next to the trunk, and extending out well beyond the drip line. You can lay down 4-6 sheets of black-ink newspaper or flattened cardboard under the mulch to smother the grass; just be sure to cover all the paper edges, as dry paper can wick moisture away from the soil. It can take about a year for a tree to establish a good root system, with which it can support rapid leaf and branch growth.

Proper planting also helps - come back when you have decided on your tree and get all the advice from the experts here, or go and search/read through old posts to see what is suggested. That way, I don't have to type for the next 15 minutes, and you don't have to read it all now!! :-)

I have debated the reported "weak-woodedness" of Liriodendron tulipifera in the past. Don't make me dig out all my references and research again. The only comment that Lirio-haters have come up with that I buy is regarding aphids.

Spruce,

Of the three common Honeylocust cultivars offered in this area, with Imperial and Sunburst being the other two, Skyline has a much more pyramidal shape. It also differs in that it typically forms a central leader, although mine looks like it wants to have co-dominant leaders. It also has the best fall color of the three. This past fall the color was a very nice dark gold, that was almost apricot-like. Imperial, which I happen to like very much, is shorter with wide spreading branches that tend to come off the trunk at 90 degree angle. Its a nice tree but very different and easy to distinguish from Skyline. Sunburst is much more irregular and probably my least favorite. The emerging yellow/gold foliage is striking, but I see too many poorly shaped trees. Or maybe its the overuse of it that has turned me off. I've got all three of them, but if forced to pick one it would be Skyline. I can't recall ever seeing Moraine and Shademaster offered and would be interested to hear what their form is like.

Bob

Quirky:

From the age of five I have been a tree nut--I think I gave a little of my personal history about this in a couple of other posts. Well, to add to that., at the age of five and for many, many years after, tuliptree was my favorite tree. I told some stories about some of the wonderful tulip trees that grew in my neighborhood before in this forum. Let me add this: in my yard I was officially given as my very own a young tulip tree that was about 25 feet tall at the time. My brother was given a slightly larger one next to it. Boy we had fun climbing these trees. And my neighbor had two somewhat taller ones growing next to each other and my brother and I would climb these to the tippy top and sway in the wind. Well, people can tell me these trees are weak wooded --subject to breakage--until they are blue in the face, and they will only make themselves look silly in my eyes. During the time I lived in that town and climbed these trees and measured others with my little handy tape measure, I never saw any of these trees suffer any significant damage. We had a hurricane in about 1949 with trees down everywhere, and in January of 1948 had a terrible, terrible ice storm that had me crying about all the broken trees. But through all of that, not one of my favorite tulip trees was damaged. Thanks for your words of support and what I assume will be some reduction of fear in people who might want to plant and watch these wonderful trees grow.

Bob:

Thanks for the info. The trees in my hometown are growing along some streets that have 3 or four story buildings that may force their growth energies upwards. They are a fairly dark green unlike the lighter or yellow green of some of the more recently popular cultivars. You say skyline is pyramidal--is it broadly so, or does it grow in a kind of more narrow shape that more properly would be a cone shape? Pyramidal, strictly speaking, is rather broad. I am not really sure what this term means when I see it used to describe the form of a tree, except that it does suggest a central leader, unlike the vase shape.

--Spruce

Basic, my grandmother had a "Moraine" in her backyard years ago. I should remember its form better-I cut it down when it got nectria canker-but it seems in memory to have been lower to crown out than a well managed 'Skyline'. I've pruned honeylocusts probably a thousand times and I like 'Skyline' the best, by far. Still can get canker, and that 'central leader' is a relative term when speaking of honeylocust! But 'Skyline' sure does shape up the nicest and has a very fast growth rate. Beyond that, I'm not really a big fan of the genus, but I have to admit it's useful qualities.

+oM

Spruceman ~
Here in Buffalo, NY, last October, we had a devastating freak snow storm that decimated thousands of trees of all species.
I have always enjoyed Lirodendron's leaves and bark on immature trees.
There are some magnificent mature specimens of Lirodendron that were not in the area of destruction and they are fine. I enjoyed the leaves and rapid growth habit, but it lost all of it's major branches. I did think long and hard about saving it, however I have ordered many new replacement trees for those lost in the storm.
I am well aware of the longevity of Lirodendron, however the tree was subjected to wet, heavy snow with all of it's leaves still on!
I am also not a hater of Lirodendron, just extremly disappointed in losing my tree to the freaky circumstances of our weather last October.

So there you have it back!

~ Krazyaroider

Krazyaroider:

Ah, yes, the early heavy wet snow--that will do it. My timberland has a wonderful section that is an almost pure stand of tuliptree. It was about 20 years ago we had an early October snowstorm. My tuliptrees had virutally perfect form, but this storm took out the tops of almost all the tuliptrees, which held their leaves a little later than most of the other trees in that area. They have recovered their growth, but are not so "perfect" now. Some other kinds of trees were worse hit. The sycamores, of which there are only a few in this mountainous area, were all destroyed--I don't know of a one in the county that is alive now. And many red oaks were hard hit.

An early wet sticky snow is just about the most devastating thing that can happen in an eastern hardwood forest! Sorry you lost your tree, but these things are rare--you might not see another in your lifetime. You might consider planting another one. If you do, dig up a local one rather than going to a nursery, which generally gets them from a southern seed source, which will hold their leaves longer and not have the good fall color, if they are winter hady at all.

+oM:

I have not seen this canker on honeylocust either here or in NJ. Maybe it is more common in your climate, or maybe I have not been alert. Thanks for the info.

--Spruce

I think I've a decision after all the great info. I'm leaning toward the Willow Oak only becasue I'm looking for the shape, shade and rapid growth. Has anyone had any luck with Nature Hills mail-order? I am going to try a local nursery but they may not have it. Sawtooth took a close second. I think I have a great place to put the tree. When I put the woodland garden in 6 years ago I put down cardboard and then 6 inches of wood chips. Needless to say the ground is very loamy. Thanks for all the great advise.
Vic