Royal Empress Trees - Good Choice?

[Nifty]

I'm thinking about planting a fast growing tree in our yard to add some greenery and block some sun in the summer and these look pretty nifty:

Royal Empress

They sound / look almost too good to be true. Anybody have them? I'd love to hear experiences and pros and cons.

 

[Rosalind]

We had some of them in our neighborhood when I was a kid. Yes, they do grow fast and make lots of shade. Downside is, they are rather invasive and will self-seed everywhere, and there won't be a darn thing you can do about it. The seeds are little and poofy and can't be raked up. So unless you want a LOT of these things, I'd say, pick something else. Also, you'll never be able to prune the thing often enough to get it into a nice shape--just grows too fast. IIRC, the purple flowers smell kinda weird too. Not bad, exactly, just not good either, kind of a weird musky smell to them. Also, the ad is very optimistic about fall cleanup--those big leaves manage to crumble into a bunch of little pieces, so you're still raking little bitty pieces of leaves around.

They do grow fast. The flowers look nice. That's about all it has going for it. For a shade/privacy concern, me personally, I'd go with one of the new disease-resistant elms, or maybe a nice copper beech, but that's just me.

 

[ams3651]

Im not sure about your area but for my zone it says they are invasive and although they grow fast they dont hold up well to high winds and have a relatively short life span. I was advised to grow red maple instead.

PS have you ever checked out www.Arborday.org you can get a collection of several trees for $10 and their catalog is reasonably priced as well, you get a discount after your $10 membership

oops, .org

 

[Nifty]

Thanks for the great feedback!

I've been reading that they are invasive in the East, but don't see it listed as invasive out here. Not sure if that is because of geo / climate or just because they haven't spread yet.

Keep the suggestions coming. My daughter's favorite color is purple, so a super fast growing tree that makes purple may be hard to avoid.

 

[beavis]

I have one in my yard, though it is called a Chinese Empress Tree.

Don't know if they are the same. It is growing relatively medium fast, and so far it hasn't been invasive. Pretty flowers big heart shaped leaves and long seed pods about a foot long.

Here is a picture of an unopened seed pod and an open one exposing the seeds.

If you would like to try some seeds out, let me know and I'll send some to you.

 

[beavis]

I found an interesting discussion on Empress trees here:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/trees/msg0513042729678.html

 

[beavis]

May I also suggest some fast growing trees that have worked for me in California?

By far, my favorite tree here is the Tipu tree. Tipu tipuana It is green year round and has lovely little yellow flowers in the Summer. I'd say this tree is 30 feet tall and I planted it three years ago when it was 3 feet tall.

And the standby tree here, the California Pepper tree.

The Mealeuca tree

All three of these trees mentioned are green year round here.


Here is our empress tree BTW, looks a little barren in comparison.LOL!

 

[crazyhen]

they are horrible here. the seed pods stay on after the seeds leave and are really ugly all winter. They stay until the leaves cover them in the spring. The leaves mat and mold in no time. Slippery too. I am in NC mtn. area. jean

 

[Che Joubert]

I'm doing some reading about Empress trees and have become concerned about environmental issues with it. I saw the alternate trees suggested by 'Beavis' on this forum and the Tipu Tipuana looked great, but when I looked that one up I found it's on the 'alert list' for environmental weeds in many areas of the world. Is it safe in the midwestern US where my daughter wants to plant a backyard tree? Will it grow well there? Next tree on the Beavis list - the California pepper, doesn't seem to grow well in zone 5 where my daughter lives. The last - the Mealeuca tree, is considered an invasive menace in south Florida and also doesn't seem to do so well in zone 5.

As I'm doing this reading I'm realizing that many trees are invasive or a menace in one zone or area, but not in another Also - I'm reading contradictory things about the Empress tree other than environmental. One person suggested it had a very short life span and that its roots seemed to grow above ground. Another said its life span is 80-100 years and that it has a deep tap root and no roots above ground. Does anyone know 1) whether the Empress is an invasive problem tree in zone 5 as it is in other zones? And 2) its life span and root behavior?

 

[Nifty]

When we were in the Florida everglades we saw miles and miles and miles of dead trees. Turns out they are Melaleuca that were introduced from Australia and takes over 14 to 15 acres a day!! They've been trying super hard to get rid of it.

This makes me realize that getting a tree just because it "grows fast" may not be the best idea and that I'll need to consider all the pros / cons.