post a pic....

how can i give you.. we... give you .... pruning advice.. w/o ever seeing the plant ....

ken

You are absolutely right. I was excited to find this group and hoped I had painted a picture of the problem. I'll get some pics then repost.

Just let it grow. The growth pattern (if there is one) is the tree just grows up without a real central leader. Pruning it causes a bunch of shoots to erupt from the bark around the cut and below that. Eventually, some get taller.

The branches dragging can be cut without hurting the tree. This also seems to lessen the number of black aphids that populate the tree in the fall. You know that these are weak wooded trees that fall apart in ice and wind, right? 15 ft. from a chicken house seems a bit close. If you ever want another Weeping Willow, just cut a branch in the spring and root it in wet dirt.

Here is the entire tree. The dog is there for size reference. This tree is 4 years old. Thought for sure it should be 25' tall by now like the others in my area.

Most of the branches are growing in the same direction leaving 1/2 the tree bare. :(

This top branch is growing back towards the ground not up or out. We tried to brace it to no avail. (We did wait toooo long before bracing it though.)

That's a tard willow. It's pretty rare.

I would just plant another one beside it, and leave that one until the new one is big enough to take over. I can't see you ever making a tree with height and stability out of that.

...and on the new tree, make sure to trim the lower limbs periodically until about 5 feet up, so it will look more attractive. Many nurseries sell pretty large weeping willows, and while I would normally caution buying a large potted tree, if watered well, a willow of any transplant size would grow quickly.

This post was edited by Ruffles78 on Sat, Aug 10, 13 at 22:14

ok ruffles.. i googled tard willow... one for you .. lol ...

willow roots rather easily ... google such.. and root a couple new ones..

and as the clown above says... start a new one...

get rid of the stakes.. i dont know what that is all about ...

when you get one to root ... clean a 3 foot circle... insert plant ... and mulch properly ... no 3 foot grass around such ...

and finally , you said: This tree is 4 years old. Thought for sure it should be 25' tall by now like the others in my area.

===>>> that is high expectations for a babe .... it usually takes a year or two.. for a tree to get moving ...

i can not give pruning advice on sideways pix.. and frankly.. this would be a great topic.. for when the tree is bare... its just so much easier to see the structure.. and really offer precise info ... there is never really any 'hurry' .. when dealing with trees ...

the sideways pics have something to do with how you hold your phone ... and its setting for portrait or landscape .. and how GW deals with it ....

ken

Ken, your googling has made my day just a tard sweeter.

ITA about rooting a few branches. I have willows and I propagated all of them that way. I just figure that this guy might have better luck with an already containerized willow as it would need less pruning.

Sorry for the sideways pics. Phone was portrait and they were portrait when I saw on the computer screen then turned sideways when I uploaded them here. I will go back to the Test Forum and try to do better next time. As for size-there are others in our area that were planted near the same time and those trees are huge maybe not 25' but really really tall. The stakes are there trying to train branches to grow on the north side of the tree. It did work. I've tried the "just let it grow" method and this is what I've ended up with so taking DZITMOIDONC's queue I went ahead and pruned the thing. Figured it wasn't doing good thus far so anything would be better. Just as I suspected all the weight of the long whips were keeping the branches from growing up and out. After pruning of course they sprung up and the tree became 2 feet taller and 3' wider! I guess not the right time of year but I couldn't stand it. I'm going to use the thickest cuttings and plant another nearby. Again, wrong time of year but our weather should be beautiful for the next 3 months and hopefully it will work. I thought you were supposed to plant trees in the fall. ?? I truly appreciate all of the advice and comments.

Planting willow cuttings is best when the plant is not in dormancy, so you may get one to root now....rooting in the spring is probably best. I wouldn't bet on one rooting in the ground, because it will be dependent on the amount of rainfall, unless you water it often. I put them in a pot with soil, and put the pot in an over sized drainage tray (just a typical drainage tray but for a much larger pot), so it stays swampy. Just keep it watered so there's always some standing water in the tray. That's probably the best way, because they can build a decent root system in soil until it's a good time to plant. Now, if you have an area in your yard that is constantly wet, regardless of rainfall or drought, plugging one in the ground there will probably root it just fine.

Edited to add that I usually have about an 80 percent success rate with the above technique. So, do a couple of them, and you'll surely have a new willow to plant.

This post was edited by Ruffles78 on Mon, Aug 12, 13 at 15:27