Fast Growing Trees and Bushes

• The weeping willow is among the fast-growth tree species. Design Pics/Valueline/Getty Images

  Trees and bushes can help screen out noise, provide privacy and add an element of beauty to your home. A wide variety of fast growing shrubs and trees exist to help you achieve just the look you want, quickly.

Shrubs

• Fast growing for a shrub or bush may mean 2 or more feet of growth per season. Popular fast growth shrubs include lilac, red osier dogwood, forsythia and Nellie Stevens holly. Each of these provides growth, privacy and relatively easy maintenance. The leyland cypress, suitable for USDA zones 6 through 10, provides superior growth, up to 4 feet per year. Various types of butterfly bush can thrive in zones 5 through 10 and grow very quickly. However, they provide little privacy.

Small Trees

• Smaller trees may grow anywhere from 3 to 15 feet per year and reach maturity at or around 50 feet. For example, the Muskogee crape myrtle, Arapaho crape myrtle and summers red maple each grow up to 5 feet per year and mature between 15 and 25 feet. Red mulberry, quaking aspen and October glory have similar annual growth and stop around 40 to 50 feet. The weeping willow, eucalyptus tree, lombardy poplar, and empress tree grow even faster -- gaining anywhere from 8 to 15 feet per year. While prevalent throughout the country, each of these trees covers slightly different growth zones. For example, the weeping willow grows in zones 3 to 9, while the eucalyptus tree grows in zones 7 to 11. Always check a zone chart prior to selecting trees.

Large Trees

• Many trees that reach heights of 60 or 70 feet do so quickly. The common pin oak, suitable for growing zones 4 through 8A, grows 3 feet a year, while the sycamore and tulip poplar may grow 5 or 6 feet. The hybrid poplar can grow in zones 3 to 9, while the nutall oak tree thrives in zones 4 to 8. Both of these trees offer superior growth among larger species, growing as much as 10 feet per season.