Thanks, guys! I'll pass all this on to my dad...

I don't think he'll go the grafting-and-watering route, though, since he has pretty much adopted the "Let it be wild" philosophy for just about everything (including his beard, btw).

If he hadn't adopted that philosophy, the tree wouldn't be there in the first place!

Wonderful news about your poplar "forest," Kat! One thing you can be fairly certain about with volunteers: They won't need much "maintenance" to thrive...