Starting a poplar

I know that poplars are pretty vigorous, but we are taking down a dead one in our row along the drive, grinding out two stumps and making way for two baby poplars to fill in the gaps in the row.

The question is - is it worth the thirty dollars to get an established sapling (about 10 ft. tall) and pop it in the hole, or are they truly as 'easy to grow' as I have heard, that I could cut off a sprout from the side of one of the larger ones, plant it deep in the soil and have it take root?

Has anyone ever really tried this?

 

I haven't tried it with a poplar, but have had success with many other plants this way. If you want immediate height, I'd say yes, it's worth $30, if you're willing to wait, I'd give the cuttings a try.

http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/shelterbelt/shbpub11.htm

 

I think they must root easily. I haven't had one so I don't know for sure. But, a lady here put some on the freecycle space and Dan saw it. Since I knew the lady I called her. She said they were bare root and she had them in a bucket of water. She started them for a wind break and decided she didn't have time to plant all of them. I asked her how many? She said, a lot. I looked them up and discovered they required a fair amount of water to get established and decided we didn't want them because water is a problem here much of the time. I just couldn't give them the amount they would need to grow properly. I do like the looks of them. Dooley

 

Well, the old is coming down this Friday. I've looked around and only found Lombardi poplar saplings at the nurseries here - I've heard nothing but bad about Lombardis, that they sucker like crazy and then die early... Are there other varieties that are still as upright and narrow, or am I stuck with this kind in my poplar row?

I wouldn't mind gradually replacing them with a hardier one as they die off over the years, if such a thing exists.