Environmental Benefits

   The growing of plantation Paulownia is very labor intensive and requires good agricultural-class land. This makes Paulownia culture an environmentally sound alternative to the expensive harvesting of similar lightweight species extracted out of the jungles and rainforests of the tropics. Paulownia roots can go down as far as 40 feet, regulating the water table and removing soil salinity. It’s shown to be very effective in absorbing waste pollutants from hog, chicken and dairy facilities as well as a variety of other pollutants.

   Giant leaves drop each winter, releasing nitrogen and increasing soil fertility. In the orient, Paulownia is intercropped, planted between row crops, for increased production.
The two crops are complimentary of each other. The tree benefits by recovering excess and unused fertilizer that has leached deep into the ground while the other crop benefits from the nutrients put into the topsoil by the fallen leaves of the tree. The trees tend to shade the soil, thereby promoting soil moisture retention while also blocking the soil drying wind.

   The giant leaves and rapid growth rate, act to scrub the air of greenhouse gases and air pollution, converting carbon dioxide into wood mass, while releasing high levels of oxygen back into the atmosphere.

   After harvesting, new Paulownia trees grow back from the old cutoff stumps. The new generation uses the same, well-established root system from the original crop. This saves post-harvest clearing, land preparation and planting costs, plus land erosion and water runoff problems are curtailed.

   Plantation Paulownia trees, grown in the US, are non-invasive. Rarely have farm-produced Paulownia trees been observed spreading outside the bounds of their designated plantation. It is extremely rare for a tree plantlet to germinate from a stray seed of plantation-grown Paulownia. Producing Paulownia in dedicated plantation helps save the cutting down of natural forests for their wood. This is because large quantities of wood can be produced in a relative short period compared to that of native forests. Then too, native forests contain many useless, non-commercial species which are little value. Plantation Paulownia can produce commercial timber in only 8-10 years, growing 2-4 times more lumber than most other commercial trees in the same time period. This is a vital consideration, as the supply of exotic timber and various hardwoods is rapidly diminishing as a result of excessive harvesting.