Show us your Paulownia stumps

[parkeey]

yea i pollarded it 2 yrs ago, left one shoot grow and just let it do its thing now....

[DiCasS]

What I do with my single stem one Parkeey is to cut it back every year to about a 30cm. Eventually you'll get a thick stump which will show new buds in Spring. Just leave one to grow and cut it off at the end of the season or in my case I leave it until early Marchish (the choice is yours) and its ready to start the process all over again

Di

[Lexic]

DSC_0152_edited by Lexic2007, on Flickr

DSC_0150_edited by Lexic2007, on Flickr

DSC_0151_edited by Lexic2007, on Flickr

I planted this last year and it doesn't seem to be doing that well. There is a hedge on the other side of the fence and I'm wondering if it is too dry for it although I water it regularlary. Are they slow starters? Will I ever get big leaves?

[Cathy]

Lexic, I think it will do much better next year when it is settled in.
I have one which was kindly given to me as a small plant, maybe 3 years ago. Each spring I snip the stem back to shorten it. (well, the first winter it was so small I tread on it by mistake!) This year it is doing well. Planted out in a crowded bed, I don't water it much at all but it has grown about 4ft tall already this year with leaves the size of dinner plates.

[lee-ann]

Here's mine wish I'd chopped it lower

[Dave Brown]

As Cathy said it needs time, probably 2 or 3 years before it really gets going. I think the problem is that members see another member's established garden, and want it instantly, the major ingredient for getting an established garden is patience. Best thing I can suggest is get a Colocasia which will grow big, quick, you can watch that grow, while you Paulownia settles in and puts it's roots down.

Here is mine that has been there for 10 maybe 12 years. Cut to almost ground level every October, limited to one shoot in spring, and is currently about 8 feet tall this season.

[Adam D]

^^^^

Amazing growth Dave.

Mine has been in the ground for almost 8 years now and this year's performance has been the worst since it got itself settled in and growing well.

I wonder what has been different this year in comparison to previous years? Certainly the weather has been poor in May and June, but it is normally poor and the plant would still grow well

[Dave Brown]

^^^^

Amazing growth Dave.

I can't answer why yours is not doing well, but what I have is warm weather, with coldest days in June around 19C, warmest around 24C, apart from 27th June 32.6C. Mins 8 to 13C

As it is in a Musa basjoo clump it gets solar warmed water and fed like a banana Seems to love it.

[Adam D]

^^^^

Amazing growth Dave.

I can't answer why yours is not doing well, but what I have is warm weather, with coldest days in June around 19C, warmest around 24C, apart from 27th June 32.6C. Mins 8 to 13C

As it is in a Musa basjoo clump it gets solar warmed water and fed like a banana Seems to love it.

I have not seen the stats for June, but apparently May was slightly average in terms of temperature, but we also had over 200% of average rainfall. I am quite sure that June will prove to be the same.

I think the thing here is the amount of rainfall has somehow stunted it.

On reflection I am glad that I am growing it the way I am with an ever increasingly tall stump as it does not grow very much in height during the season.

[Cathy]

Been measuring so here are the details...
I cut last years stem back to 20" tall in early spring, before it began to grow.
I have allowed two stems to grow up in a 'V' fork.
It is now 5ft tall with leaves up to 17" across.

[Adam D]

^^^^

Just goes to show that Scotland is pants for certain kinds of plants really

[Lexic]

Thank you Cathy, just wanted confirmation that mine was not sickly or performing unusually. I am quite happy to wait a couple of years for BIG results!

[Ian Cooke]

Mine gets pollarded to about 6ft each spring so has a head start. I thinned the shoots to just five this week.

[Adam D]

Grrrr!

I am starting to get stump jealousy at the moment

However, it does seem to have moved a little more in the last week. I guess that was the warm weather over the weekend and into yesterday before it disappeared today and I am back to square one longing for a reload of half-decent summer weather again.

[DiCasS]

Some movement is better than no movement Adam

Since the last episode where mine dropped off, another one has sprung up and has grown a couple of feet in what seems like no time at all.

The one down the bottom of the garden seems to have grown loads just recently, I now have good sun shade for my fern area


Di