Nature Hills Gardening Community

Hi!

I Ordered 20 Hybrid Poplars for a medium sized yard...should be here any day.  Does anyone know the closest distance i can plant these to each other without risking towering trunk syndrome.  I wanted to use these for privacy and wind break, but they are for a back yard perimeter and i am worried that if i plant them too close together that they wont branch out until they hit 20 feet.  what is the closest i should plant them to each other?

I have seen people space them 5 feet apart to get a quick screen. Please post the botanical name as there are so many different crosses I couldn't say for sure how far to place them as each cross has a different tree spread.

Populus deltoides/ Populus nigra  is what the website says.  So, I guess i am not sure either as to the exact breed of hybrid poplar we are talking about.

I have another question, but I am going to start a new post so others can find it easier.

Where did you buy the hybrid poplars? From Nature Hills?

Yes, I bought them at naturehills.  I have been nothing but pleased so far.  I will let you know after today how the shipping went.

That is great to hear and thank you for the compliment. The hybrid poplars we sell have a mature spread of 50 - 60 feet, sometimes the trees don't make that spread due to high winds, poor soil and lack of moisture. They are a rapid growing soft wood tree so planting them 20 - 25 feet apart will suffice for a screening application. I have seen them planted around 10 - 15 foot apart but I think that is way to close. Many people plant poplar trees to give a rapid screen or shade but plant another row of conifers to have a more permanent screen 10 - 15 years down the road when the poplars tend to start looking ragged. Good luck! 

Shipping and planting went well.  Planted everything but 2 trees.  Still deciding where to put them, hope they survive.  The trees arrived just as I was told they would, in a box, tied together and roots wrapped in moss and a bag.  Poplars were 36 " + or - and the Maples were around 48".

We planted these trees only about 6-8 inches deep.  It looked like the same depth as they were planted before, but it wasn't easy to tell.  Oh, and we did go around 10 feet apart instead of the 20-25.  The soil is a 4 to 6 inch layer of manure over clay on a slope.  I think that was my fathers way of restoring the soil, but you can definately see the layer separation.  I am hoping the PH level isnt messed up.  The slope and the clay made it difficult to retain the water by the trees, so i made a quick trench around each tree and filled that with water.  On top of that, we will create a doughnut shape ring of mulch about 5 inches high.  Between the two, enough water should be retained to help the trees grow in this crucial growth period.

After 3 days, some of the trees were budding out, especially one of the silver maples i ordered.  I would say that 12 out of the 18 Poplars had green buds on them.  I will travel back to check on the trees in a couple weeks (at ma's place, 1 hour away).

We are so excited to watch these grow!  thanks for the help.