Paulownia Plantation

Has anybody here got any experience with Permaculture style tree plantations specifically Paulownia ,i have  been searching the web for days now and can only find lots of positive things mainly from the suppliers of plants and seeds ,any info would be helpful.

many tx

Paul

Permaship Team 

http://sites.google.com/site/permaship1/

They can escape out into the wider area and out compete native species, chocking out native habitat and replacing it with paulownia monoculture. Not much permaculture to be done with them, planting fruit bearing bushes underneath them is just about it. They do regrow from the stumps if I recall so perhaps they can be copiced for something like charcoal production.

Tx for the reply.

I have a done more research since my first post and have a better idea of what information i am looking for.
We are thinking of the non-invasive type Paulownia elongata which is also fastest growing. The plan is to use the timber from the trees for firewood and building materials  when the trees are ready in 10 years or so. In the mean time we want to make the most of the space between the trees and experiment a little with guilds and stacked functions. The trees are nitrogen fixing , huge biomass producers, heavy and sustained  bloomers and heavy deciduous shaders.  If anyone has any experience with plants that grow well below these tree's  would be much appreciated. 
Cheers

Paul

http://sites.google.com/site/permaship1/Home
Permaship Team 

From a firewood stand point do these trees have any advantages over black locust? I was under the impression that Paulonia was grown because of its ability to grow strait to use for timber.

I know this might be somewhat off-topic, but , is there not a native tree you could use for your plantations?  Native trees harbor native fauna, and can contribute to preserving the local habitat, whereas introduced trees may not be as useful to the native animals, specifically birds and insects.

I have a Paulownia tree in my garden. They provide fast growing firewood with not so special heating value, compared to oak. Paulownia burn better and hotter than willow or aspen and dry faster. They grow very quickly for hardwood, I can't compare at all to Black Locust, I never saw them growing nor did I burn them. But for what I read Black Locust is fine firewood comparable to oak, right?

The leafs degrade very quickly though and are easy to collect. I just put all of them (10 cm strong) without preperation on my veggie bed when they fall off the tree. In late winter the leafs are completly degraded.
Paulownia are useless for birds because the branches are too thick and too sporadic to build a nest in.

They produce massive amounts of seeds and most of them germinate, at least in my region (West-Germany at the river Rhine). The self-sowed seedlings grow 1-2 meters in the first year under good conditions. They germinate even between paving stones without a problem and grow big fast. Paulownia grow 10-15 meters high in a couple of years and they tend to get really broad.

Tx for your replies. What is growing underneath your Paulownia Dunkelheit?

Cheers

Paul

Permaship Team

http://sites.google.com/site/permaship1/Home

Not much, my compost bins are underneath the tree. There is one 3 meter high Japanese Flowering Dagwood growing 1 meter away from the stem and Galium odoratum is crawling everywhere but doing poorly cause I'm trampling on it often. There is one flowering bush right next to it which I can't name yet. Without my compost bins it wouldn't inhibit growth of other stuff, I think.


Edit:

My nephew damaged the tree, visible on the left side of the trunk. Upper right side bad pruning from a neighbor is visible. I wasn't into plants on that time. Have to correct it someday.


It is a nice tree even though it was mistreated often in the past.


Seed capsules. They degrade in 1-2 year on bare soil, I crush them when they are dry and put them in the compost bin.

Paulownia in spring.