“Rapid growth, high quality timber, prolific flowers, ability to coppice and regrow, along with being able to grow in depleted soils, and a natural resistance to insect and disease pressures, make Paulownia trees an extremely useful and valuable plant in the permaculture toolbox.”
- KW Homestead
A natural solution
Non-invasive,
nature approved
Is this tree invasive? Will it cause harm to ecosystems where it is planted? The short answer is: no.
There are between 9 and 23 species of Paulownia. One of these, the Paulownia tomentosa, is on the invasive species list. World Tree does not grow that variety. We grow Paulownia fortunei and Paulownia elongata, neither of which is invasive.
All Paulownia are prolific seed producers. However, the seeds are extremely hard to germinate – except under very rare conditions. That’s why we grow all our trees from tissue culture.
Paulownia does not have a detrimental impact on the environment. Quite the opposite. The tree’s natural ability to fix nitrogen and its nectar-rich flowers enhance rather than detract from the environment and Paulownia is becoming popular with the permaculture and ‘food farm’ community.
The Rainforest Alliance is internationally recognized as a certification program for sustainable forestry and best practices for tree planting and agroforestry. It has reported that the Paulownia tree as an ecologically sound tree for the purposes of reforestation and carbon sequestration.
