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Snips... ;-)Paulownia Tree...
About 13 years ago, shortly before the birth of my son, my wife planted a sapling Paulownia tree in the garden (I had nothing to do with this of course - the restoration inside the house was my responsibility, while the garden was her domain). The tree grew and grew, higher and higher. It towered over the house, and spread its boughs across the garden in a most welcoming manner. Unfortunately, the shade it cast - while an oasis from the West Australian sun in summer - killed the lawn (and the Golden Retriever, who ate the reticulation, did not help either!). The tree grew so high that it no longer created any privacy from the neighbor, and all that could be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors that line the living room was the tree's trunk. So a few weeks ago we had the tree cut down. I hate cutting down trees, but I console myself that this was the odd one out in our garden, which is home to a number of native gums. Of course I had to save as much of the timber as possible. The tree lopper put aside a 10 ft section of the trunk. This is about 2 ft wide. Plus many branches about 3-6" thick and also about 6-10 ft long. What I know about the Paulownia (also known as the Powton, Kiri, Princess Tree, Emerald Dragon and the Mountain Jacaranda) tree is that it was named for the daughter of a Tsar of Russia, Anna Paulownia, and is believed to be the fastest growing hardwood in the world. I certainly can believe the latter point. My research on the Net found that the earliest records of Paulownia farming in China date to as far back as 200 BC where the tree was subsequently considered to be the valuable asset and status symbol of Chinese farmers, it was grown as well for specific usage by Chinese Emperors, and considered as suitable dowry, being planted on the birth of a girl-child and harvested at time of her marriage. I must use some of the wood I have harvested to build something in memory of the tree. Perhaps a piece for my wife, since it was "her" tree - fortunately, it is unlikely to be needed for dowry purposes just yet!.. One of the questions I have is whether any here have any experience with the wood of the Paulownia tree? I gather that (from the Net again) "in recent years two Paulownia timber display cabinets, provided by the former US President Jimmy Carter from trees planted on his own property, were sold at a charity auction for, in the vicinity of, $200,000 each". Well I know that says more about Jimmy than it does about the timber! A related question is whether the wood is hard and durable enough for tool handles. I have plans to turn chisel handles, etc from the branches. Or do I just use them as spindles for chairs? Or bother to hang onto them at all (since storage space is an issue)? What have I done so far? Well the tree lopper left the trunk where it fell. (Damn!) Right across the section of the garden where I was planning to dig and build a paved path (It will have to wait until next year. Whew!). Move it as is? Even Arnie would balk at that! So I brought out the chainsaw (every Ozzie bloke has one) and began cutting it up into reasonable size pieces. As much as I wanted long, wide boards, I have had to rationalize that the longest I could manage was about 4 ft long. I then split the trunks so cut down the centre. That is it so far. The wood is very wet. I have painted the ends and stored it so long in the shadow under the eaves next to my "shed" (the name Ozzie blokes use for their workshops). If I cannot find space for it inside, how does one protect it outdoors? Regards from Perth |
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