fast growing trees

Weeping Willow - Salix niobe / Salix babylonica - Fastest

Weeping willow, fast growing shade tree Probably the fastest-growing shade tree. Grows as much as eight to ten feet a year under ideal conditions. Slender, graceful drooping branches and fine, narrow, leaves that change to a rich golden color in autumn. Handsome bark makes this tree a showpiece in winter after the leaves are gone as well as in summer. The weeping willow thrives in moist as well as dry locations, frequently growing alongside river banks with a portion of the roots under water. Tolerant of smog and smoke.

Willows or poplars shouldn't be planted within 140 feet of a house or drains to be safe. They have very vigorous far reaching roots and are thirsty enough to make the soil expand and contract with the uptake of water so threatening foundations.

To 50 feet high and 40 foot spread. Zones 4 - 9 deciduous

Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum - Fastest

One of the fastest - growing windbreak trees you can plant. Grows 3 feet per year. The name comes from the foliage that has an attractive silvery underside, best seen in a light breeze, turns golden yellow or orange-red in fall.

To 80 feet tall with a 50 foot spread. Zones 3 to 8 - deciduous

Eucalyptus spp. esp. - Eucalyptus gunnii - Cider Gum - Fastest

Eucalypts are a genus of trees that if left to their own devices that will go to 50ft +, if they're happy. However, they are quite capable of responding to very different treatment and can be grown in almost any garden. They can be treated as a coppice stool for the smaller areas.

Coppice stool: Let the plant get established for one or two years and then in Feb / March you cut it down to about 4-6" above ground level. This encourages it to throw out new shoots from just below the cut point. The plant will then provide you with lots of very attractive juvenile foliage that can grow up to 6ft from ground level in a season.

A very beautiful foliage plant, excellent against rather dull fences and as a contrast to other leaf colors and shapes. Tends to be a bit fussy about position. Likes to be well drained so incorporate lots of sharp sand and / or pea shingle when planting it and only plant in full sunshine, otherwise 6ft growth a year becomes 6mm. It's also reputed to keep midges and mosquitoes at bay, so plant it near the patio.

Height and spread vary with species, but many will grow to 50 feet tall and spread of about 2/3rds of the height. Zones, again varies with species, but there are Eucalypts that will survive in 4 - 10.

Lombardy Poplar - Populus nigra italica - Fastest

An improved variety of the Lombardy Poplar. Grows tall and fast, can be planted 5 to 6 feet apart to provide a windbreak, site screen or background. Also, you can tell people that it gives your plot a Napoleonic air as these were much planted along roads in France during Napoleons time.

To 120 feet tall and 70 foot spread. Zones 3 -9, deciduous

Royal Empress Tree - Paulownia tomentosa - Fastest

fast growing flowering tree, Royal Empress Variously known as Empress Tree, Foxglove Tree or Princess Tree. These grow and flower best in climates with long hot summers. Not really hardy in zone 5, can be grown best as a coppice stool. Great big leaves that can be the size of dinner plates if suitably pruned, growth up to 12' per year under ideal conditions (which you probably don't have).

To 40 feet tall with a 30 foot spread. Zones 5 - 9, deciduous

Hardy Pecan - Carya Illinoinensis - Faster

fast growing fruit tree, Hardy Pecan A beautiful tree that provides shade in summer and an abundant crop of sweet, rich-flavored nuts in fall. This hardy tree is ideal for the lawn because it does not shed its leaves until late in the fall and it is practically immune to the attack of insects. The nuts are good size and excellent quality. This hardy pecan will thrive and produce anywhere peaches can be grown, like all nuts does best where there are long warm summers.
Plant two for best pollination.

To 100 feet tall and 70 foot spread. Zones 3 - 9, deciduous.

Ash - Fraxinus spp. - Faster

To 40 - 60 feet tall, similar spread with an oval crown. Zones 3 to 9, deciduous.

Green Ash Zones: 3-9 The Green Ash tree, Fraxinus Pennsylvanica, is a fast growing shade tree with rich green foliage and an upswept branching habit. It is very adaptable.	White Ash Zones: 4-9 The White Ash tree, Fraxinus Americana, is a handsome native tree. It develops an open and rather round topped crown in its old age.
Cimmaron Ash Zones: 3-9 The Cimmaron Ash tree, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, 'Cimmzam', is a fast growing ash tree that has beautiful glossy purple-colored leaves for showy foliage.	Autumn Purple Ash Zones 3-9 The Autumn Purple White Ash, Fraxinus americana, 'Autumn Purple', is a seedless male tree and is a cultivar of the species which is native to moist areas.

Tulip Tree / Tulip Poplar - Liriodendron tulipifera - Faster

Excellent specimen trees where the shapely form can best be appreciated. Sometimes sold on the strength of masses of tulip-like flowers in the spring. It's true that they do produce them, though they are inconspicuous from a distance their pale green and yellow color blending in with the trees leaves. The leaves are deep green and turn a blazing golden yellow in fall. A valuable shade tree Fast-growing, hardy and highly resistant to insects and diseases.

To 80 feet tall. Zones - all, deciduous

Norway Spruce - Picea abies - Faster

A very commonly cultivated spruce, fast-growing and low-maintenance. Conical when young, to columnar when mature. Keeps its a good tidy shape without pruning and has a dense coat of dark green needles for a good wind break or barrier. Very cold hardy. Much used as a Christmas tree - these are the ones that drop their needles so badly when cut and indoors.

To 70 - 130 feet tall by 20 foot spread. Zones 2 to 7 - evergreen

Colorado blue spruce - Picea pungens glauca - Faster

A must in every yard, an excellent fast growing evergreen tree. Glistening, steel blue coloring and graceful conical shape. Blue Spruce will add real value to your property. Have the added pleasure of shaping your tree just the way you want while you watch it grow. So dense growing these make superb windbreaks or privacy screens where there is space enough for large spreading trees. Makes a great outdoor Christmas tree to festoon with lights.

The Colorado Blue Spruce tree, Picea Pungens, is a pyramidal shaped evergreen with steel blue foliage. It prefers heavier soils, full sun, and clean cultivation.

To 50 feet tall and 20 foot spread. Zones 3 - 7 evergreen

Douglas fir - Pseudotsuga menziesii syn. P. taxifola, P. douglasii - Faster

A tall growing conical dark fir with bluish-green needles a a well-shaped pyramidal form. Beautiful fir tree is excellent for use as windbreaks or background plantings.

a splendid pyramidal evergreen.

To 80 - 160 feet tall at maturity and 20 to 30 feet spread. Zones 3 - 6, evergreen

Canadian Hemlock - Tsuga canadensis - Faster

The Canadian Hemlock tree, Tsuga canadensis, is also called Eastern Hemlock or Hemlock spruce. For use as a specimen tree or as an excellent hedge. Canadian Hemlock is often called the most graceful of all evergreens. The foliage is a soft blue green color that grows in flat, feathery layers all the way to the ground. It can be sheared to any formal shape desired as well as a privet hedge can. Whether sheared, or left unsheared, this hedge remains neat and attractive.

Easily adapts to a wide range of soils, requires protection from prevailing winds the first year planted. Will grow 1-3' annually.

To 70 feet tall and 30 foot spread. Zones 3 - 8, evergreen

Dawn Redwood - Metsequoia glyptostroboides - Faster

Flourishes in almost any soil or climate, on dry sites growth slows after 30 approx. 30 feet tall, in moist or even damp or waterlogged soils it keeps on going. A handsome narrowly conical specimen tree, plant it, water, and stand back to watch it grow 3 - 6' a year with no spraying, fertilizing, pruning or cutting. From springtime green, the fern-like leaves turn orange-brown to dark brown in fall.

To 70 - 130 feet tall and 15 foot spread or more. Zones 4 - 8, evergreen

Scots or Scotch Pine - Pinus sylvestris - Fast

Fast growing evergreen tree, Scotch pine A magnificent tree, tall and stately, will grow up to 2 feet in a season. Pyramidal when young, then develops to conical to columnar-conical shape. Grows in a pyramidal form, 40-75 feet tall. Stiff, bluish-green needles stay dense and thick all year long, block wind with a vengeance.

To 50 - 100 feet tall with a 20 - 28 foot spread. Zones 2 to 8 - evergreen

Scarlet, Red Maple - Acer Rubrum - Fast

Variously known as Red Maple, Scarlet Maple or Swamp Maple. A beautiful shade tree that will live for many years and give long satisfaction. Tiny red flowers in spring and wonderful red, yellow or orange colors in the fall. A reasonably fast growing shade tree, pollution, and disease resistant. The best fall colors are produced in acidic soils.

To 70 feet tall and 30 feet spread. Zones 4 - 10, deciduous

Black walnut - Juglans Nigra - Fast

The black walnut is a good cropper in climates where summers are suitably long and warm (zone 6 and above) to give the nuts time to ripen properly. In all zones it is a good shapely shade tree, not as fast growing as many on this page, but longer lived, sturdier and provides valuable wood.

A wife a dog and a walnut tree,
the more you beat them the better they be.
traditional

To 40 feet tall and wide. Zones - all, deciduous

Fast Growing Trees