 The pace of life seems of getting faster and faster and faster, and there's a strong desire to have a beautiful landscape as soon as possible. Here to share with us the benefits, the issues of concern, and the care of fast growing trees is Dr. Todd West. Todd is a horticulture professor at North Dakota State University, and he's the director of its woody plant improvement program. This famous program focuses on the development of new woody cultivars that are suited for hardening the zones 3 and 4, which is North Dakota. And this program has released 60 ornamental woody plants in the nursery industry, many of which have been shown to be the hardest selections of their type in the industry. So Todd, welcome to the forums. Awesome. Thank you, Tom. Welcome. I am going to go ahead and share my screen. All right. So we're going to talk about fast growing trees. And I chose the title, Should I or Shouldn't I? And I think really for today, we need to really just basically ditch the whole tree idea in general and just abandon trees completely and go to these liquid trees. And so these are being proposed as just a tank full of water and micro algae that could be our alternative to trees in urban areas. So we're going to cut all the trees down in the cities and we're going to have these liquid trees. So I'd like to say April Fools, but if you saw in the news a month ago, this is actually being tested and proposed. So kind of scary. So we're going to leave that behind. All right. So what is the most common question I'm asked? And it really is what is the best tree that I should plant? And best is very subjective. And often a loaded question because really it comes down to, you know, what do you really, really want? So the answer is always depends. And so there's always follow up question or questions that have to follow. And more often than not, a person wants something that has great fall color, minimal maintenance and grow fast. I was talking to a, it was an industry rep and they're like, well, you know, we really would like you to release something new, something that will bloom in the spring, have good fall color that grows fast, but yet is really hearty and it has really strong wood. And I'm like, going, yeah, I would like that too. So we're going to have to make some exceptions. But when it comes to fast growing trees, as Tom said, we live in a fast pace life and people us want kind of that instant gratification. And so there's a lot of websites dedicated to this instant gratification. So my message tonight really is be careful. Here's the Arbor Day Foundation. They sell trees and they have a whole section on fast growing trees. Better homes and gardens. You can look up the 13 of the fastest growing trees for a privacy screen in your yard. So this is back in 2023. Martha Stewart, the fastest growing trees to plant in your garden back in 2022. Here there's a website dedicated just called to fastgrowingtrees.com. I thought it was funny. The top pick for me, if you look in the center here is Dakota Pinnacle Birch. And that is one we will mention. That's an NDSU release. So it's kind of neat to see that. But then looking down this list. It's like, well, yeah, these are kind of fast, but also kind of scary in some parts. So we're going to talk about these as we go. Gurneys, some of you I think are familiar with gurneys. They also have a whole section under trees and shrubs of fast growing trees, whether you want a fast shade tree, a fast privacy tree, a fast fruit tree, you know, like, what are you looking for? But we have lots to choose from. But focusing on these fast growing trees, there's all these websites that are just dedicated on meeting that niche that people people want. All right, fast growing, live fast, die young. Is a truism often applied to rock stars, but could easily describe trees. Many trees take decades to reach full size. You know, that's the thing. It's like people say, when's the best time to plant a tree? You know, last year, when's the second best time now? And that's what we really got to think about is that in general, trees are a long term investment to our landscapes, and we have to treat that as such. But in our fast paced world, we don't have the patience to wait that long. Our attention span has gotten shorter and shorter. Having that smartphone in our hand, having those, you know, instant gratification, you know, Amazon, you know, it's like, oh, it's going to take two days to get here. I need it today, you know. And so that's what we're at now. But fortunately for the eager gardener, there are species that mature relatively quickly, and there's some caveats that go with that. Now, keep in mind fast growing is often defined as a tree that matures in 20 to 30 years. So that's fast growing. Slow growing is going to take much longer. Keep in mind fast growth, however, you may sacrifice other qualities. And when I teach our identification course here at NDSU, when we learn about a fast growing tree, we learned that fast growth equals weak wood and short lived. So those are not two really good combinations that we want, but we're going to have to deal with it if that's what we're going to look for. So some benefits of fast growing trees. The first reason to choose a fast growing tree is that it will fill the spot you planned for it quickly. And so, you know, we're going to we want a shade tree in our yard. Fast growing tree is going to give us that shade. In the time that we're kind of looking for. This is an important consideration, especially if you have the tree fulfilling multiple functions in addition to being a landscape feature. Other reasons it may often bright colored flowers or foliage. So that's that added benefit. It may help you soak up a damp spot in the yard if you choose a water loving variety. So you have a low area. You want something that's going to establish quickly and be able to handle that wet soil, but also then that will mitigate that wet soil as well. And ultimately, it may offer shade in privacy faster. These types of trees can offer plenty of benefits. That's why willows, poplars, birch trees and similar fast growing varieties are often used so often in landscaping. Benefits of slow growing trees. So the opposite. So the other end of the spectrum, the slow growing tree can play a different role. Some reasons you might entertain the thought of a slower growing tree could include the tree will need trimming for a specific size or shape, such as a hedge and you don't have to prune it every month. Now that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but you won't have to prune it as often. Now we still are going to talk about pruning because that is the way we control growth. That's also where we control the shape. You want the tree to last for a much longer time. Fast growing trees may be shorter lived or suffer disease and pests. A lot of times with that fast paced life, the disease and pest issues are usually much, much more. A slower growing tree can offer low maintenance beauty and some even come with relatively noninvasive roots when compared to more aggressive trees such as willows. Places to avoid planting either type of tree, whether it's fast or slow, but fast we're going to see some issues quicker. But keep in mind that some issues can't be solved by simply choosing a different type of tree. Some spots in your landscape where you shouldn't place either type of tree include on or near your septic system if you have a septic, near your sewer line or other pipes. Obviously trees are going to search out water and those roots are going to find the water. Now with a faster growing tree, they're going to find it faster and have more issues. So like if you're planting a willow near a sewer line and it's going to find any of those imperfections and can cause problems here in the right, you can see where the top tree has been planted way too close to a home. This might have actually been one that was not planted by a person may have been planted by an animal. But when we go to the garden center or the nursery, the plants are small. They're cute. They fit everywhere because they're in that small container. And so we can put them in places where we really shouldn't. And so this could have been that case. And then obviously planted way too close because eventually they will grow up here on the bottom right. You can see where there is foundation issues. And so this tree planted way too close and it's causing foundational problems. So even a less aggressive tree will eventually establish itself in the area and could end up putting roots in any nearby pipe. So it doesn't matter necessarily fast or slow, but fast, we're going to have issues. Some issues with fast growing trees, we already talked about short lived, weak wood. And so fast growing trees will fill spaces quick, but the speed of the growth translates into weak brittle wood. Generally, so think of willow, think of silver maple, think of poplar. And when a windstorm comes through, what are the trees that break apart? Whether the entire tree from trunk failure, large branches, or just even a lot of small branches that cause a lot of mess for cleanup. We have willow, you know, silver maple poplars. And so with the softer wood, in addition to tendency to grow forks and crotches with narrow angles, ultimately fair poorly under certain conditions, we mentioned strong winds added weight of snow and ice. Now, one thing I'm seeing more and I think we all are is that we're getting some heavier snowfalls. And, you know, generally here in North Dakota, a lot of the snow, you know, it's in the cold of winter and it tends to be more of a lighter flaky kind of snow. But if we get these heavy snows with these warmer temps, then we have a lot of problems with the weight. And with fast growing trees, again, the shortened lifespan, you get that rapid growth, you get potentially more disease. So you can have fungal cankers. You can have pests like elm leaf beetle, ash borer can also shorten a tree's life in conjunction. Some tree species just aren't very prolific. Bradford pear, not one that we plant here and one that shouldn't be planted anywhere. Really, you're looking at 20, 30 years. You know, willows hit that 40 year mark and they've hit old age and they're on the decline, you know, out at the NDSU Research Arboretum. This year, we're hitting 50 50 years of planting and our willow collection is being turned over because within the last 10 years, they've declined dramatically. And so, you know, that's the lifespan. That's the same with a lot of the poplars as well. You're going to if you're lucky to get that, you know, 40 years out of them and you're going to have to replace it. Now, 40 years does sound like a long time. But, you know, again, as a young person, you know, when we look at willows, poplars and even like silver maples, those are three trees that you could plant in your lifetime and remove in your lifetime. But other trees can reach, you know, into the hundreds. Again, right plant, right place, right reason, depending on where they end up in their care. So we talked about disease, that they're more susceptible. Here's a poplar having some issues and they do have a tendency more to develop more disease. Fungal cankers, very common. You may notice scattered areas of wilted leaves and trees caused by cankers, followed up by dead, discolored or sunken bark. Willows and poplars are exceptionally susceptible. And so that's just something we have to think about. A lot of the trees that are in the rose family also tend to have a lot more disease and pest issues. Fast growing trees often develop shallow roots. So tree roots anchor a tree firmly to the ground. And we're looking at problems with then either the tree breaking up hardscapes like sidewalks or patios with those surface roots or just simply not having the anchorage that they need for the volume of the plant. So that can be a problem. Culture and care to ensure optimal growth, provide good soil, proper nutrition and ample water because they put on so much growth each year. It's important that quick growing trees and shrubs receive proper trimming. It's important in placing the quick growing plant material that enough room is left between them and other structures and plants. Because they could rapidly shade out other plant material, also having the damage of beds and structures with those root structures. Let's see. So ways to influence your slow growing tree to grow faster. That's one thing I try to promote is maybe not necessarily go with a fast tree, but more of a moderate tree and making sure it's getting the proper nutrition, proper water, again, not too much. You know, we want to fertilize our trees, but not excessively. And so these comparisons may help you get a better sense of the differences in care, behavior and drawback between fast growing like a willow and a slow grower like an oak. And so we really, really talk to your tree care professional of what would be best long term. So some trees to avoid Autumn Blaze, Freeman Maple. This is one that I highly recommend to avoid. It is sold throughout North Dakota. It has that beautiful fall color, but it's always either a hit or a miss. And it's almost nearly a miss because of some hardiness issues with the excessive growth from the silver maple side of the parentage. And also the chlorosis that generally results from our high pH soils. Mount Nash is another one. This is one that is in the Rose family. It has a lot of disease and insect issues. So it's very short lived and very disease prone. Has a beautiful fall color, has really nice flowers and fruit. But it can be very problematic with all the other issues of boars, aphid, soft flies, scale, mites, fire, light, rust, scab, cankers, crown gall, you know, just is too much. Now, if you really are dead set on a Mount Nash, I would go with Korean Mount Nash instead of the American Mount or Mount Nash. The Korean is less up prone to the diseases that American Mount Nash is. Niobi are golden weeping willow. Now, again, every plant has its place and in the proper place, it can do well. Like here, you can see this weeping willow. It's right next to a pond. There's no structures there. You're not worried about a septic. This is a great place. This is not somebody's front yard. So that's one thing to keep in mind. You know, I have a love, hate relationship with willows. I love the way they look, but I hate the amount of maintenance. And they're also, again, short lived. Eastern white pine, also one that grows very quickly, but because of our pH can have huge issues with chlorosis. The top right picture is showing a salt burn. They are not salt tolerant. And so next to a roadway, not a good choice. So again, right plant, right place, right reason. So some trees that you may want to consider. Hammer maple, again, this is one that is considered to be invasive. But it will grow fairly quick, but it's not huge. And so it fits into a landscape fairly well. Easy to prune size wise for a homeowner as well to keep it kind of in check. Arborvite, if you want to have that privacy screen realizing again, this is not a deer resistant, one of the newer cultivars. North Pole is one that withstands or is tolerant or resistant to winter burn, but very hardy. This was selected by Art Bow. Some of you may know who Art Bow was, but it grows at a really decent rate. All the birch are going to grow at a really good rate. But again, a lot of them are tolerant to or susceptible to drought conditions. River birch is a beautiful one. There is a northern tribute from NDSU that does very well in drought in our high pH soils, and you also get that nice exfoliating bark, but you're going to get a tree that's going to grow quicker. One thing to keep in mind is bronze birch borer is an issue for us. And river birch is pretty much immune. Dakota Pinnacle is one that when it does get stressed, it can get bronze birch borer, but it's also going to grow fairly quick. You can see it here planted in this yard. Another one you're probably familiar with is Parkland Pillar. It's a variant of Dakota Pinnacle, but narrower. We have a newer release called Emerald Flare. This is one that grows at a really nice moderate to fast rate and has a really, really great tolerance to droughty kind of conditions. Now, I always want to be a little bit cautious with elms. Is that with elms, they're very fast growing and but they're long lived and but they do require a lot of maintenance. Make sure you use Dutch Elm Disease resistant cultivars. Dr. Joe's Lesnick has a wonderful elms for North Dakota Bulletin. If you want to know your elms, just search North Dakota or Elms for North Dakota. Great publication. That's that's my go to. One thing to keep in mind, especially the American Elm cultivars can be heavy seeders. Prairie Expedition is one that is used a lot on boulevards. It's a fast grower. I love Discovery Japanese Elm, so it's not American, but it is a Japanese. And yes, you as one Northern Empress, it gets a beautiful fall color. This is also a Japanese Elm, almost completely seedless. So some elms to avoid Cathedral Elm. This one showing up to be slightly susceptible to Dutch Elm disease, but it also is a very fast grower and requires annual pruning. And homeowners don't really know how to prune very well because you just haven't been trained to do so. So a lot of pruning will always want to avoid Siberian Elm. But here's some examples of a homeowner, what they've done. You can see that excessive growth on this tree. This is an Elm because the problems is too much fertilizer, too much water. Elms will grow, grow, grow. And so here, this person even staked it with these guy wires to try to keep it from flopping around. These are Cathedral Elms, I think in Castleton. Again, you have to hit them all the time. Another one I would avoid is Knight Rider. This is a newer Elm that also gets burgundy fall color, but it has a heavy seed set because half the parentage is Siberian Elm. So my Elm disclaimer always is that Elms need yearly pruning. You have to prune them or they're just going to be out of control. You're going to get very bad branch angles. You're going to get just a lot of issues with them. Hackberry, not one that's extremely ornamental, but extremely tolerant of just about anything. Strong winds, air pollution, makes a really nice shade tree. But you're not going to have the fall color that you would want from, say, an autumn blaze maple. Little Leaf Linden is kind of the same. It does have really nice flowers, and you're going to attract a lot of pollinators. So this one's not native, but it's still a nice shade tree. One of my favorites is Northern Cotalpa. And this one is wonderful. It doesn't look like your regular trees, very large leaves. It has the really cool flowers, as you can see here. These white flowers, it's drought and flood tolerant. We've had really good success with Heartland Cotalpa. Here's just a close up on the left of the flowers. You can kind of get a sense of the leaves. And then they have these long bean kind of pods, not edible from the fruit. And Thornless Honey Locust. Again, this is one that needs space, but it is a faster growing tree that's longer lived. It does need some training for branch branching because it tends to branch really low. So you want to make sure that you get that head height up. But it does tolerate a lot of our conditions and it does have a really nice yellow fall color. What's great is that the leaflets, the leaf is quite large, but the leaflets are very small. So you get a nice dappled shade that's turf friendly and also doesn't generally require a lot of raking. It's great with the electric blowers. What I really want to also push, and we're going to finish up with this, is succession planting. Plant fast growing trees with slower to moderate growing trees. Because after a decade or so, once your fast growing trees have really created that screen or they have that shade, your moderate trees are starting to catch up. They may be a little bit behind. And then you can take out the fast growing trees and leave those slower to moderate growing trees in their place. So here's my little diagram. This is how well of a landscape designer I am. But you can see five circles and the yellow circles stand for slow. We're using that red, yellow, green stoplight format. But yellow is slower growing. The green are fast growing. So we can say put in silver maples. Whereas then the yellow may be an oak. And so in 10 to 20 years, those silver maples are going to be quite large. And then those oaks have also been developing and they're going to continue to grow. And then when you take out those two silver maples or whatever fast growing tree, you're left behind with some really nice moderate trees that are getting size on them. And so one example, this is not in your handout that I gave, but I wanted to add it is say like prairie stature oak. This is a cross between English and white and is tolerant of our pH. It gets a brown to red fall color. But it's a moderate grower. You know, most people like oaks. Ooh, I don't want to plant oak. They're too slow growing. And in general, you know, that's kind of the stigma that they have. But with the English oak background in it, that has a much quicker growth rate for an oak. So not a bad choice to throw in there for our moderate grower, especially with the succession planting. So conclusion, realize that faster is not always better. It's kind of the idea of the rabbit and the tortoise, you know, racing, faster growth. We got to remember equals weak wood and generally short lived, utilize that succession planting idea, but ultimately enjoy what you plant and not worry about it. You know, as long as it's going to be healthy, you're not going to have problems with disease, insects or chlorosis. Go with a fast growing tree. Just realize that it's going to be proper pruning for structure. And generally, if you think about it, you know, like me, if a tree lasts 30 years, that's great, because I'll probably be in an old folks' home in 30 years and I won't care what my tree is at my house here anyway. I want to enjoy the tree that I have. So that's what I've got for you tonight. Thank you, Todd. That was great. And let's open it up to questions. First one, you mentioned fertilizing trees, like especially those moderate growers. Do you have some guidelines about fertilizing trees? Well, each tree is so specific when it comes to your lawn as well, you know, your soil situation. So I just recommend always just work with a certified arborist. They're going to be the best recommendation for your specific site in your specific tree. I mean, is there a season like in spring time would be the best time to fertilize a tree? Yeah, and there is a lot of good literature out there. I don't know, Tom, does Extension have a bulletin on fertilizing trees or tree care? Yeah, we've got information about taking care of trees. And, you know, with the county agents we have, like many of the people tonight are at the county extension offices. We have county extension agents who are, you know, they're really sharp on this stuff and they can find the resources for anything. There's, yes, there's always your go-to is go to your county extension agent. That's your straight go-to. And don't forget that your lawn, you know, most tree roots are near the surface, right, Todd? And so when you fertilize your lawn, you're likely fertilizing your tree at the same time. Exactly. And be careful with the watering too, because that frequent watering is going to create more shallow roots. And so if you think if you're just watering your lawn, you're watering your tree. And that's not always the case. We want to do a deep soaking so that those tree roots will go down a little bit. So when we do get droughty, they're able to handle that a little bit better. Okay, good. There's some other trees that you didn't mention tonight that our listeners have a comment on. How about, what do you feel about Aspen's in southwest North Dakota? Sure. I mean, yeah, there's, this list was obviously nowhere near complete. You know, with having 20 minutes, definitely could not have the full list. Again, it was just more of talking about the idea of understanding that fast growth equals weak wood short-lived. You know, Aspen's are great. You know, every tree is great in the right place. It's only like poplars or cottonwood. Yeah. Yeah, poplars, cottonwood, beautiful trees. You know, wonderful in a park situation, especially with a big poplar, but you stick one in your backyard, especially in more of a suburban area. Now you're, you're expecting in 30 years, you're going to have a very pricey tree removal. You did mention Arborvite, and you mentioned that North Pole variety. Are there any other varieties that you recommend, especially for a privacy situation? Yeah. I mean, it really kind of just depends on what you're going to do with them shape-wise, you know, because Techni Arborvite is one that handles us very well with our hardiness, our soil. It's just, you know, big and wide, you know, if you're going to be shearing, you know, I would say get something that's a little bit smaller, so you don't have to shear. You know, Pyramidalis is one that's a nice big upright. Again, it's all depending on the size, because like Pyramidalis is a narrower upright, but it gets 25 to 30 foot, whereas North Pole, you're looking at more of that 15 to 20 foot range. So it really comes down to kind of what are you trying to do. Okay, so I'm going to ask you to keep your answers short and sweet so we can stay on time. Oh, sorry. No worries. No worries. I just, we're just a font of knowledge. That's our problem. Like we should have Yonfer like an hour or two. You should have a series or something like that. But okay, listen, you know, you mentioned about how important it is to prune those elms, but what exactly are you pruning out? So with pruning out, we're trying to space branches for kind of final spacing, but we're also trying to get really nice wide branch angles. Those are the strongest branch angles and trying to reduce some of the excessive growth. Okay, how about you consider the growing conditions in central Minnesota to be similar to those of North Dakota? Similar. Obviously a very different soil type. Central Minnesota tends to be more sandy and lower pH, so you can get away with a lot of things that we can't. How about, are there any arborvide that the deer don't like? No. Junipers. There you go. You can hug an arborvide, but you can't hug a juniper. That's right. That's how you tell the difference. Does Ohio Buckeye mean anything to you? Ohio Buckeye does great. It's one that I recommend if you've got a low area. It loves that wetter feet. How about Japanese tree lilac? Japanese tree lilac, beautiful plants. Again, it's a moderate grower, so it's going to do well, one I would recommend for sure. Not for wet though. Do you have a favorite cherry tree? Oh my goodness. I, well personally, I like the Canadian shrub cherries. They're easier to manage in your garden, and you get lots of yummy cherries. Personally, I think you can't beat the Evans-Bali cherry, because it's so precocious. You get buckets of cherries right away, and it's super hearty. Let's see what else we got here. There's a question about your favorite tree, autumn blaze maple. It's half-carrotic. Well, if a tree's half-carrotic, can you just treat that clorotic side? Well, that solved the problem. You can, yeah, because if you have a tree that's clorotic in general, you can do an iron chelate, you can do some other treatment, soil drenches, and that will help. It will definitely help. It won't fix, but it will help. Any fast-growing fruit trees you like, like maybe a honeycrisp apple? Oh my goodness. Sure. I mean, I don't forgo. Yeah, exactly. As far as caring for these fast-growing trees, is there any specific type of mulch that you recommend? I really like non-rock mulch. You're having that nice organic matter. The key is just getting as much mulch as you can so that you get as great of a root zone, also to protect the tree from humans, but also to ensure that the grass isn't taking up the nutrients. Okay, so just to be clear, you like a non-rock mulch. Yeah, I mean, everybody loves rock because it doesn't blow away, but it doesn't decompose and add organic. Okay, I think we got about, we got all the questions here, so we're right on time. Todd, great job. Really appreciate it. Everybody, we're going to take a five-minute break, and then we're going to learn about the emerald ash borer.