by Maureen Gilmer
Do It Yourself Network
The Hopi carved figures of Kachinas exclusively from the large woody roots of the southwestern cottonwood trees. During hard northern winters the Cheyenne fed the twigs and bark of leafless plains cottonwood trees to their famished horses. For the early settler of America's vast heartland, the cottonwood was the only building material for miles around. Cottonwood trees have chronicled the history of North America and have since ancient times been called the "people's tree."
In the 18th century, Carolus Linnaeus gave them the genus "populus," because the trees are so easy to grow that the entire "population" could utilize them. Any living cutting of a poplar, if merely inserted into damp soil, will root almost immediately. In the Old World, planting one's small farm with these useful trees for shade, wood, wattle and fodder was as simple as cutting a few bare sticks during the dormant season.
Our American native poplars gained the name "cottonwood" because the trees produce prodigious seeds attached to soft, cottonlike tufts of fiber. When they are released, the fibers make a huge mess, or cling tenaciously to stucco and window screens. For this sin they were long ago banned from gardens.
We realize why this is such a loss in the late season when cottonwoods from coast to coast begin to show their true golden-yellow colors. They are particularly dramatic amid pine forests of the West.
Fortunately, breeders did not give up on the cottonwood, because it still held great promise for communities sorely lacking street, park or shade trees. The fact that poplars were nontoxic and actually beneficial to wildlife and livestock meant they would make suitable trees for zoos, habitat areas and ranches.
Out west, foresters began experimenting with our natives and rare poplar species imported from Asia and Europe, hoping to create an attractive, all-purpose cottonwood. The primary goal was to find one that was sterile so that no fluffy seeds would be produced. Since that time, a number of trees were singled out, and from them cuttings were taken to produce countless sterile cottonless clones. These are generally known as hybrid poplars and are sold under a variety of trade names by tree farmers.
The poplar tree produces a fine network of fibrous roots important for holding riverbanks against the erosive force of high water. When a tree was grown in a nursery container, it quickly filled up the pot with a mass of roots, and when planted into the ground the roots had difficulty spreading out again.
It was discovered that trees grown from fresh cuttings placed directly into the soil by the ancient method grew perfectly and developed healthy, adventurous roots. Even freshly harvested poles up to 20 feet long could be simply dropped into a deep posthole and they root along the entire length of the underground portion.
This ease of planting made the new cottonless cottonwoods once again a desirable people's tree. Grow one and you have a lifetime supply of new trees close at hand. Cut during the dormant season and plant early in spring before they begin to leaf out. Water well all summer and by fall they will have put on considerable growth, up to 5 feet or more per year.
You can buy cottonless cottonwood "poles" through a full-service nursery, or inquire at local arborists. They are available exclusively during bare-root season. For many small land owners these poplars have provided the answer to difficult, barren sites. They offer us an inexpensive way to improve environmental quality without much expense. Best of all, they return the people's tree to our suburbs, newly freed of its fluffy stigma so that the cottonwood comes back home to America.
(Maureen Gilmer is a horticulturist and author of 14 books. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
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