TREES > WILLOW > PRUNING
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WILLOW guidebook
Container GrowingPruningVarieties – Corkscrew – Flamingo – Weeping
Plants in the Salix genus , usually called ‘ willow tree ’ , are deciduous trees that can often grow well in our temperate climate .
Willows can be great choices for many UK gardens , but it is important to understand how to worry for them right – and pruning is one important area to consider .
Do Willow Trees Need To Be Pruned?
Many mature willow Tree fall into RHS Pruning Group 1 and do not require much pruning at all , as they naturally retain a well - shape model and form.1Shrubs and trees : swooning pruning . ( n.d.-d ) . Royal Horticultural Society . Retrieved March 27 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/trees-shrubs-light-pruning
There is a all-encompassing change of different willows that grow in UK gardens in a range of forms and sizes .
Willow coinage and cultivars can be extremely large trees or relatively small shrubs , with a range of sizes in between .
So , when growing willow tree in its instinctive pattern , it is authoritative to choose onesuited to the size of your space .
It can be challenging to keep a mature willow tree diagram in check and you could not really make major changes to the structure and sizing of a matured standard willow tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
“ You may line up it hard to find a master who will want to undertake pernicious pruning of large willow tree diagram because the branches can shoot easily , ” shares Master Horticulturist Dan Ori .
“ If you undertake crop never climb a tree or catch one’s breath a run against its branch . My best advice for a big tree is to pick the veracious species for the spot , snip out poor outgrowth when the tree diagram is young , and for anything else , get a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree sawbones in .
“ Remember to be realistic about what can be crop due to the snapping propensity of its branches . ”
A lilliputian light pruning is possible on fledged tree diagram , but it is broadly speaking best to keep this to a minimum , whilst some pruning may be undertake to determine a young willow while it is still modest .
However , matter get a little more complicated when we reckon at willow that are grow for brushwood or pollarding schemes .
A identification number of willows are not grow as received trees with a undivided trunk but are instead turn off back more seriously , for encourage the organisation of slender party whip that can be used in a wide compass of ways .
When willows are grow in a pollard eccentric scheme , they are cut back hard on a unconstipated basis every 3 - 4 years depending on the coinage chosen , the yields desire and what they are to be used for .
“ Coppicing is not common and it is not suitable for some willow tree types , ” says Dan .
“ Coppicing is taking the tree down to a stump allowing unexampled halt to grow from it . Some people will mistakenly refer to pollarding as coppicing due to the similar coming of cutting back hard . ”
Another matter to consider is that certain varieties of willow can also be trained to organize structures or barrier , which will require more pruning .
When To Prune Salix
Willows can phlebotomise sap when snip during the grow season .
Therefore , it is in force to trim in the former winter or in early saltation , either while they are still dormant or just as novel growth egress .
Initial defining and alimony pruning on stock willow trees is generally carry out during the dormant phase angle and many specie are also coppiced during this time .
However , change of willow grown for colourful stem are typically pruned in early spring , just as newfangled growth start out to go forth .
The only time when a little pruning may be carried out on salix metal money in summertime is when they are being grow as a living hedge or have been trained into another structure .
In such suit , some summertime pruning may be necessitate in improver to winter pruning to keep the shape of the structures .
How To Prune Willows
While many willow trees wo n’t involve much pruning at all , it is crucial to look at the specific genus Salix you are raise and to ensure that you adopt the right approach shot for the mixed bag , stage of growth and what you are target to attain .
Small Trees
When shaping a young willow tree to become a received tree , you will typically pick out a key leader showing potent upright growth and check that that you prune out any competing shank .
Any damaged branches should be remove , along with those that acquire upwards instead of outwards or those which are overcrowded .
The aim is to create a clear , evenly - space bodily structure of well - placed limb .
Mature Trees
Mature willow trees can and should mostly be left to their own gimmick where possible .
However , it is a effective idea to check over the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in winter and to undertake dim-witted light maintenance pruning by take any branch that are stagnant , damaged or diseased and those that are chafe against one another .
Where , for aesthetic reasonableness , you wish to shorten branches , you’re able to do so sparingly , as long as you always cut just above a sprig or leaf bud .
Weeping willow tree forms are particularly popular in many gardens .
crying branches can sometimes achieve aright down to the ground , so you may care to foreshorten these for practical or aesthetic ones .
you’re able to reduce these as required by , again , snub just above a foliage bud .
Coppicing, Pollarding Or Stooling
A number of salix species are idealistic for use within a coppicing or pollarding dodging and can often respond well to being write out back heavily .
Coppicing and pollarding are techniques often used when lop willow to encourage the formation of newfangled emergence on multiple stalk .
We may bid to undertake this form of pruning in lodge to obtain thin willow subdivision , also known as whips , for use in basketry or other crafts .
Some shrub willows , grown for winter shank colour , are also coppiced for encourage the formation of young , more colourful stanch for cosmetic prayer in a garden .
Coppicing involves cut back close to the ground , whilst pollard involves cutting off branches to create whippy ontogenesis at a certain meridian above the ground .
When coppicing , all the stem turn of the tree are plainly cut back to within 5 - 7.5 atomic number 96 of the earth .
However , pollarding allows you to cut the stubs of the previous yr at your desired summit .
When willow tree trees are coppiced or stool on a regular basis , they should quick spring into young growth .
