Hybrid Poplar
You're making an investment in your land — protect it. Each kit has a Tree Pro tube and a slow-release fertilizer block for one tree. The tube keeps deer and rabbits off and can double your growth rate; the fertilizer feeds the tree through its first season. Plant with a kit, follow the Growing Guide, and your trees are covered by our 1-Year Survival Guarantee.
Fastest way to screen a food plot - 5-8ft of growth a year
Orders placed now are for Spring 2027 shipment
We take orders in advance and ship at the proper time for spring planting in your region — mid-December in the Deep South through the end of May up north. Pick your state under "When Will My Order Ship?" below and you’ll see your exact ship dates.
Get your order in now, we sell out early every season!
Hybrid Poplar
A lot of screening options take years to fill in. Hybrid poplar doesn't. These trees put on 5-8ft of growth a year on a decent site, which means a 2-3ft tree you plant this spring can be over your head by the end of summer and a real screen the year after that. There is nothing else you can plant that will hide a food plot from the road faster.
That speed is what makes them so useful for habitat work. Plant a row between the road and your plot and deer will start feeding in daylight because they don't feel watched. Plant a row along the trail to your stand and you can walk in with the wind right and never skyline yourself. Plant a couple rows between your bedding area and your neighbor's property line and you take away his view of what's walking around on your side. Poplars also make a great nurse crop, plant them alongside a slower screen like Norway spruce or cedar and the poplars do the job for the first 10 years while the evergreens catch up.
Deer will browse poplar and rub on it, so these need to be in a Survival Kit tube until they're out of reach. The tree will come out of the tube with a bare stem on the bottom few feet, that's normal. Once it's above browse height pull the tube and the lower branches will fill back in, and any browsing deer do from there just makes it thicker. They do need some moisture to hit their full growth rate. Poplar is not a permanent tree, figure on 30 years or so, which is plenty of time for the evergreens behind it to take over. They also hold their leaves a little later than most hardwoods, which helps during bow season.
Plant each tree with one of our Survival Kits (a Tree Pro tube and a slow-release fertilizer block), follow our planting instructions, and it’s covered by our 1-Year Survival Guarantee. Full details here.
Variety: Populus deltoides x Populus nigra
Height at maturity: 40-60ft+
Growth rate: 5-8ft per year once established
Growing zones: 3-9 (grows just about everywhere in the country except south Florida and the far northern edge of Minnesota, North Dakota and Maine)
Soil type: Adaptable, best in moist well drained soil, tolerates poor soil
pH: 5.5-7.5
Sun: Full sun
Lifespan: 30-50 years
Size when shipped: Bareroot approx. 2-3ft
Spacing: 8-10ft in a row for screening, 6-8ft for a denser screen sooner
Add Late Drop and keep chestnuts falling into December.
By November most acorns have been mopped up and the woods go quiet. Late Drop Hybrids are selected to drop Nov–late Dec, right when deer have the fewest options. Our recommendation: a 1:1 mix.
Questions we get about Hybrid Poplar
We don't ship on the day you order. We take orders in advance and ship at the proper time for spring planting in each region — from mid-December in the Deep South through the end of May up north. Pick your state below to see your exact window. Orders placed after your region has already shipped go out within 5–10 business days.
A Tree Pro grow tube and a slow-release fertilizer block for one tree. The tube protects the seedling from deer and rabbits and can double its growth rate; the fertilizer block feeds the tree through its first growing season. Every tree we ship is already inoculated with beneficial mycorrhizae, so there's nothing else to add — plant it in the kit, follow the Growing Guide, and it's covered by our 1-Year Survival Guarantee.
Plant with a Survival Kit and we guarantee the tree for a full year. If a tree dies within one year of the day it's delivered, we'll issue you store credit for what you paid for it. You don't have to worry about spending your money on something that may or may not make it.
To be covered, plant each tree with one of our Survival Kits (a Tree Pro tube and a slow-release fertilizer block), keep the tube on, and follow our planting instructions. Email us photos and your order number within a year of delivery.
For all details and conditions, see here: 1-Year Survival Guarantee
