hi .. welcome

since the prior owner created this.. lets be honest ... about this whole situation ...

take a quick look at the link below ... and understand that this tree has vast potential ... it is IMPROPERLY sited ...

and with the willow growth rate.. its going to turn into a nightmare rather quickly ...

it looks like it has already died back once.... leaving you with what looks like a bunch of trunks.. some of which do not look secure ... meaning.. they will grow.. until the fall over ...

its also planted too close to the fence and building... leaving no where for falling things to fall...

IMHO ... just get rid of it ... in my world.. willow are for golf courses... parks.. or estates ... they do not belong .. trapped.. in town or suburbia ...

if you are interested in learning about gardening... GW is a great resource ....

i wish you luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Thu, Jun 13, 13 at 8:39

Hi Ken
Thank you very much for your advice, it's very much appreciated. It's what I thought once I'd identified the tree but I was t sure & didn't want to kill such a lovely tree without making sure. It's a brand new house so the developers must have planted it although gods only knows why!!
I'm going to take your advice on board & dig it up, it's not a job ill enjoy doing as willows are my fav trees but you're right not in a small garden!!
Thanks again, hopefully I can learn more off this site as I go along
Mandy

One thing you should know is that you can root these with no problem at all. Take a branch, stick it into wet dirt. Job done. When it is rooted, plant it where you want, cut the other one down. In 5 years, you will have a willow over your head.

Hi
Thanks for the replys but I've cut all it's branches off now as I panicked in case it got huge!!! It's main trunks are still in tact, I just cut all the branches off before it got out of hand as ken said, I can't replant it as the other member suggested as the drains run through my garden & it's only a small garden so I wouldn't chance growing another. Does anyone else have any ideas, should I uproot the whole tree or do I leave it be & hope it grows back next year?

Oh, it'll grow back, with vengeance. Killing these accidentally includes having to run them over with the bulldozer towing the propane burner attachment they use to burn the wild blueberry fields down to the bedrock. You can cut this back as far as you want, just about as often as you want. Unless your climate is really harsh ( inland SoCal, Intermountain West, etc.), Corkscrew Willow is hard to kill without taking extraordinary measures. (Yes, I have seen them as weeds sucking up the precious water in those places, but a year of drought sets them back wicked.)

For kicks, you should take about 3 branches and braid them. Allow a little bit of unbraided branch, then braid the tips together. In 3 years, the branches will have grown together at both ends and you have a piece of wood that looks like it split into 3.

Oh you're so right, I checked it yesterday & there's loads of red buds where new branches are going to come through! Is there a way of keeping it manageable & if so how? Where would I prune it? If I want to keep it smallish & bushy do I cut the top, it's about 7ft tall now but just trunks left as I hacked it, id like to keep it but I need to keep it under control to, especially as its so close to the fence & shed
Thanks for the reply, hoping I can learn more!

why is it tied up ...

just cut more off ... so you dont need the ties ..

if you want real pruning help.. give us a picture of the whole thing ... w/o the twist tie on it

dried.. those 7 foot sticks would make cool walking sticks... if they dont root while hiking around.. lol ..

ken

This post was edited by ken_adrian on Thu, Jun 27, 13 at 14:14

There is a picture of the whole tree on my first post that you commented on ken, I tied it as you said it didn't look secure but then I cut it all back & was going to dig it up but others on here have suggested pruning it to keep it under control.
I have got another picture that I will post but ignore the other corkscrew willow that is in the garden behind with branches, mine has none now, just trunks
I will get another picture tomorrow when the rain goes off without the ties on

i reread all my posts.. i did NOT tell you to tie it ...

but i did ask you to untie it and snap a shot of the whole ...

i want others to confirm this.. but you could cut the thing down to 3 inches.. and by fall.. it will be back to fence high..

i have no clue why you are messing around with tying it up???

anyone agree???

i want to see it untied.. because .. MAYBE... you cut 3 of the slanting ones .. presumably the ones that need to be tied.. and leave 3 others ... and then next spring.. you cut down those ... its a short version of what is called REJUVENATION PRUNING .... google that term ...

ken

No you did not tell me to tie it up, that is correct, but you did say it was not secure & no where for branches to fall, people need to be mindful that I have never had a garden before, never mind a willow tree to contend with, so I assumed that it would be more secure tied to support it.
I am not in any way green fingered which is why I joined this site in the hope of some help, rather than be told I am "messing around" I am asking for help not to be told off when I don't know any better

Merseygal. I believe that everybody in the world owns a zillion apothecary jars. Each carries a different label. One is for slothfulness, one is for honesty. Each has a different label for every single trait you can think of. Generosity, ambition, good looks, intelligence, tact, patience, every single trait.

Every jar has a different level of sand in them. Some people have their kindness jar overflowing, and they are kind to the point they are taken advantage of all the time. Some have their avarice jar full to the point of uselessness, and they are greedy to the point it limits their ability to see beauty unless there is a dollar sign assigned to it.

If I may be so bold, I will conjecture that ken has a deficit of sand in his tact jar. His kindness jar has a good level, and his altruism jar is decently stocked, but oh, that tact jar. Don't be put off. Accept it for what it is. You came on a public board where there could be real trolls, and ken doesn't come close to being a troll. If you find his way of speaking insulting, please don't assume he is making personal strikes. He speaks like that, but his other jars make up for lack of sand in one or two others.

Thank you for your comments, I see what you're saying but I have a jar full of tact when people need help, I guess I have an even bigger one of nieivity to go with that!
I just don't want to kill such a lovely tree because of my lack of understanding, hence me joining here, when I say I am a novice, I do mean no knowledge whatsoever, the Internet is useful but sometimes there is so much information, if you don't know basics then you drown in it all!

Here is a picture of the tree untied, sorry it's not a great picture but it hasn't stopped raining here for 3 days now!

Here's a better picture, the rain had gone off for a bit today!!

This is a side shot

To me, it is an interesting tree and if maintained at this approximate size, does fit the space. It seems awkward because it needs to be grounded in some underplanting.

Actually, I think your willow is in a rather good spot. As GG states, these quite mannerly willows will maintain an essentially upright and neat habit and you can safely practice the arts of pruning in complete confidence that there is little you can do to cause ruin to this interesting willow. The close fence will ensure its branches grow skywards and you could cut it back hard to the same point - the top pf the fence for example (pollarding), and it will become an architectural specimen, At the moment, there is a lovely tree on one of my dog walks - the bright fresh growth is truly glowing - especially if sunlight falls on yours - do check the new growth - very lovely. As a bonus, the foliage has the merest twist of leaf...unlike the dreadful contorted hazel which looks diseased in leaf. Possibly the most annoying tendency is for leaf fall to go on for weeks - there is one next door to one of my customers (also a minuscule urban yard) which seems to take forever to offload its leaves.You might want to keep the grass at the base from growing close to the trunk.

It makes a better large bush than a tree and should be located and pruned accordingly.

Mike

We moved onto a farm with a bunch of 30' specimens of corkscrew willows planted to shade the buildings. Looking up into the branches that twirl into eachother is quite a sight when they're that big, the sun twinkles in a magical way through it. I have sold over 2k worth of dried willow branches to interior designers and wedding folks over etsy and ebay.. anyway, these trees HATE wet roots. The best year for them was the drought of 2012 but they are all but dead now since they were planted in a bad spot near a building and its been muddy all year. They're big trees with tons of falling branches. I wouldnt plant them near a building but I agree theyd do great in a golf course! hehe.. the twisty branches are amazing looking! They look like a witches wand. Youre able to braid the green long branches together, and let it dry out and harden into an arch, we make garden trellises out of them that way. Not sure what to do with my poor dying trees though i cant make it stop raining here in iowa (z5) :P

"these trees HATE wet roots. "

LOL!! You may be the only one that thinks so :-) Like may other willows, Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa', aka corkscrew or Hankow willow is extremely tolerant of wet soils and will even tolerate standing water for periods of time. But they are also more tolerant of dry conditions than many willows, as well.

But like most willows, they trend not to be long lived - prone to weak wood and falling branches and breakage and host to a zillion different insect and disease problems. Would suspect that the decline of your trees, Lauren, is NOT due to wet soils but one or more of the other issues that shorten corkscrew willows' lives.

you seem like quite a character, gardengal48. They died back hard all at once, after nonstop rain. My suspicions are that the oxygen roots were suffocated in mud and thus the branches supported by those roots died too, but they should technically come back. Like many of my hydro plants do when i give them a bit too big of a refill in the res. Does such a miniscule and debatable topic really require you to talk down to people, wow, this willbe my last post here.

I'm sorry if you found that offensive (for whatever reason) but you have made an assumption with your trees that is just not borne out by their reality. Willows are often recommended for wet conditions such as you describe simply because they ARE so water/wet soil tolerant. In fact, they are used to help control high water tables for just this reason.

But I guess finding out what may really be the cause of your willows' problems is not all that important to you. So be it.

Lauren, I can assure you gardengal meant no harm and in in fact would like to help you, and what's more, in terms of your willow tree, you'd do well to take a good look at her reply,and note the mention of the many, many issues that nearly all species of willows get. Excepting the clonal colony-forming types, they are just not long-lived trees as trees go. I'd almost have to say too that in my area, corkscrew willows are especially prone to a short lifespan. But without a doubt, willows-as a whole genus, are almost uniformly tolerant to wet soils. That one ain't worth arguing about. Well, none of them are, hehe.

"Not sure what to do with my poor dying trees though i cant make it stop raining here in iowa (z5) :P"

Lauren, take 1 ft. sections of wood from the dying trees and stick the pieces in mud. They will sprout new trees for you. You can leave them in place and they will do fine. Your old trees got old and went downhill from there. As noted above, they don't live long. Suffocating in the mud was not the cause of them dying.`Try what I said and get back to us later in the year after the willows have sprouted.

Mike

I moved in a house that has a corkscrew willow and its been there about 8 years. The previous owner didnt take very good care of it and it has a lot of dead pieces on it. I've started trimming it back I really like the tree and pray it doesnt die . I am going to trim it back to about 15 ft tall taking off maybe 4 feet. I am also going to take off alot of the suckers that are up and down the trunk and main limbs leaving more at the top vs the bottom. I want to fertilize it but dont know what type to use can someone help me? Am I doing the right thing?

IME willows don’t need any fertilizer. Have you had a soil test done or have a reason to assume it needs fertilizer? Regular water is more important for these water-loving trees.

Would anyone be so kind to tell me the difference between suckered limbs and limbs that should be properly growing? I have had my willow in the ground for a year. We unstated it this week. The tree is bent over almost. I will see if I took a pic of it. If not, I will take one when I get home. I am scared it is dying, but the leaves are mostly fine. Some have little brown spots. This is my first willow and I don't want it to die. Thanks!

My name is Pam, by the way.

How far are to London.