Poplars are a familiar sight grown as field boundaries providing an effective windbreak to protect crops they also make good hedging plants as they will bush out to form an effective screen if they are clipped regularly the lombardy poplar has almost triangular shaped leaves which turn to shades of yellow as autumn progresses after the leaves have dropped the beauty of the rough bark is revealed beneath the bark is an edible inner bark which can be eaten like noodles or mixed into flour