Populus fremontii Zapata

Identification

Description

''Zapata'comes from a parent tree that is 80' tall and 40' wide out in a stream bed of a customers property. I had to stand on my pickup roof with a 10' pole pruner to get a bottom branch. It is native to the inner coast ranges with a very continental climate. One of the most difficult places I've ever seen. It is similar to Ridgecrest or Las Vegas. This plant's a male clone. On ideal sites with regular water we have seen 20'+ of growth in a year. Cottonwoods are very important wildlife plants. They are the big pioneers in many habitats that allow birds and other animals and plants to 'move' in. They also act as very large airconditioners. The summer temperatures under the tree can be 30 degrees cooler. If you have the water you can transform a desert site into a cool wildlife habitat. A deciduous tree. Plant and stand back, very fast with regular water, on one site 30' in a year. We grow male trees, females have cotton. An excellent shade tree. Keep away from septic system. Do not plant under power lines. Cottonwoods are important bird and butterfly plants. Cottonwoods are amongst the water shunt plants of nature. Use them next to a water source(such as a lawn) to shunt water to the rest of your planting. Cottonwoods will get very shallow roots if you water shallowly. If you put one next to a lawn do not water the lawn daily (you shouldn't anyway), strech the watering out to once a week or so or you will have a bumpy lawn (from the roots).