Large leaves of Paulownia tomentosa
The extra-large shallowly-lobed leaves leaves are those of the Empress Tree / Foxglove tree (Paulownia tomentosa) in our jungle area.
We grow Paulownia tomentosa in order to enjoy its unusual 'oversize' and beautiful leaves. The leaves are even larger than normal because of the way we prune the tree! We bought our Paulownia as a very small tree however it has a fairly dramatically fast growth rate. Every year we pollard our Paulownia and for the last 5 years or so, this has been down to a height of about 9 feet. We cut off about 8 vertical branches each year during winter pruning and two or three of these branches we remove are 6-8 feet in length and up to 2 inches in diameter......the 8 feet and the 2 inch diameter having grown in one year! The stems of the growth removed are quite soft and and almost spongey. When we bought our paulownia in 2005 the trunk was probably about one inch in diameter and now it is about 7 inches in diameter.
We understand that the flowers of Paulownia are very pretty. We however, never see flowers on our Paulownia because of the way we prune/pollard it each year. We have noticed that the seeds can be bought from some of the suppliers in the UK. However, from what we know of Paulownia we think probably warning information should be given at the time of buying the seeds since in the USA it is classified as a noxious weed! Apparently it can be very invasive because it produces prolific flowers and seeds and the seeds have an incredibly high success rate at being germinated in the wild.
As we mentioned the branches are made up of a very soft wood and we think the tree that if the tree was allowed to grow tall it would not be safe to prune it whilst climbing into it. We rest a low ladder against our and as we said prune the trunk and a couple of main branches down to a height of about 7-9 feet from the ground.
The Paulownia does not start to produce new growth until early summer. During our May charity open days when the azaleas and the new growth of the Japanese maples are looking so beautiful, the pollarded Paulownia without any leaves looks a little unsightly......for fun we put a label on the tree saying "I'm not dead, I am just waiting for summer before I wake up!" From our point of view the new leaves are well worth the long wait. Furthermore, the delay before new growth begins is no problem since our pollarded Paulownia is hidden amongst the bamboos and palms in the jungle.
Large leaves of Paulownia tomentosa
The extra-large shallowly-lobed leaves leaves are those of the Empress Tree / Foxglove tree (Paulownia tomentosa) in our jungle area.
We grow Paulownia tomentosa in order to enjoy its unusual 'oversize' and beautiful leaves. The leaves are even larger than normal because of the way we prune the tree! We bought our Paulownia as a very small tree however it has a fairly dramatically fast growth rate. Every year we pollard our Paulownia and for the last 5 years or so, this has been down to a height of about 9 feet. We cut off about 8 vertical branches each year during winter pruning and two or three of these branches we remove are 6-8 feet in length and up to 2 inches in diameter......the 8 feet and the 2 inch diameter having grown in one year! The stems of the growth removed are quite soft and and almost spongey. When we bought our paulownia in 2005 the trunk was probably about one inch in diameter and now it is about 7 inches in diameter.
We understand that the flowers of Paulownia are very pretty. We however, never see flowers on our Paulownia because of the way we prune/pollard it each year. We have noticed that the seeds can be bought from some of the suppliers in the UK. However, from what we know of Paulownia we think probably warning information should be given at the time of buying the seeds since in the USA it is classified as a noxious weed! Apparently it can be very invasive because it produces prolific flowers and seeds and the seeds have an incredibly high success rate at being germinated in the wild.
As we mentioned the branches are made up of a very soft wood and we think the tree that if the tree was allowed to grow tall it would not be safe to prune it whilst climbing into it. We rest a low ladder against our and as we said prune the trunk and a couple of main branches down to a height of about 7-9 feet from the ground.
The Paulownia does not start to produce new growth until early summer. During our May charity open days when the azaleas and the new growth of the Japanese maples are looking so beautiful, the pollarded Paulownia without any leaves looks a little unsightly......for fun we put a label on the tree saying "I'm not dead, I am just waiting for summer before I wake up!" From our point of view the new leaves are well worth the long wait. Furthermore, the delay before new growth begins is no problem since our pollarded Paulownia is hidden amongst the bamboos and palms in the jungle.