Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra `Italica')
The Lombardy Poplar sometimes called the Italian poplar. It offers rapid growth and an attractive narrow columnar habit appropriate for screens and windbreaks. Lombardy poplars grow rapidly, up to 4 or 5 feet a year. They can reach 40 to 60 feet in height with a spread of only 10 to 12 feet.
Lombardy poplar leaves emerge in early May. Up to 3 inches long, they have a triangular shape and toothed edges. Light green in the spring, they turn a gray-green as they mature. Like all poplars, Lombardy poplar leaves have distinctive flattened stems that cause them to twist in the breeze and show their pale undersides. Early in the fall, usually September, poplar foliage turns bright yellow before dropping.
Unfortunately canker disease almost always infects the tree by the time it is 10 to 15 years old so trees are rarely seen larger than about 30 feet by 5 feet wide. If you are comfortable with replacing your screen trees every fifteen years, the Lombardy Poplar makes a gorgeous screen.
Lombardy Poplar Choices
Thevestina has white bark.
