Does anyone have any experience with these? Particularly, buying one, planting, etc? I'd really like to add one or two to our front yard but have NO idea where to start...

Yes, google is a viable option but I was hoping someone here would have first hand experience.

10/12/2008 1:46:53 PM

Weeping willow - Salix babylonica

they are a fast gorwing tree, that makes for often weak wood (breaking of branches in wind,snow ice). they are not very resistant to borers, blight, and other fungi,scale, insect/pests. they are however tolerable in a wide variety soils, even poorly draining soils. they produce shallow roots that are hard to garden in. they are best used as singular trees (standing alone).

30-50 ft in height, with a spread near 40 ft (maximum branch extension)
need full sun, lots of water

10/12/2008 1:59:06 PM

cut a branch off of a neighbors willow. stick it in abucket of water for a week or so until you see some roots growing, then plant it. keep it really wet for the first month. tey are really hardy trees. make sure you trim them so they grow in the shape of a tree, and not a bush. also, yeah, dont plant them near your garden.

10/12/2008 2:06:01 PM

^what? would that work?

10/12/2008 3:34:41 PM

yea willows are by far the easiest things to root

branches that fall off the tree with no treatment will root

those "living fences" are made from willow twigs thare are just stuck vertically into the ground, you dont really even need rooting hormone

10/12/2008 3:36:51 PM

I don't know if it's true or not but I've heard that they search out water sources and can break through water/sewage lines. Something to consider if you live in a residential area.

10/12/2008 3:45:15 PM

i wouldnt expect a willow to seek out water soruces liek that, just based on logic, since weeping willows are hybridized from obligate wetland willow species


wetland trees tend to be shallow rooted because its where both the water and oxygen exchange are

it just seems like u have to mind the rootspread when plantin them near infrastructure and like sidewalks



[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 3:49 PM. Reason : d]

10/12/2008 3:47:38 PM

dude...if anyone has a willow from which they can pull a branch or two for me, that'd be great

10/12/2008 3:48:37 PM

they're everywhere, just take a knife out and cut couple branches. I know my old apartment complex has a bunch of them.

10/12/2008 3:50:14 PM

well...they're not "everywhere" around me

10/12/2008 3:54:30 PM

they aren't "everywhere" around me either. apparently the previous owner had several in the front yard and cut them all down for no reason. i'd like to have them again, i just didn't know where to start. i suppose i shall search out someone's weeping willow to cut a branch from... though i think i'd be pretty pissed if someone came in my front yard with a knife and cut off one of my branches...

10/12/2008 5:20:54 PM

yea its not a big deal..but u should ask permission definitely just to appear to be a decent person

these people down the road have some pear trees growin next to the sidewalk, i wanted to get some of the rotten ones that fell to the ground for a turtle i had, even though i didnt want any good pears i still asked just to not be a prick

10/12/2008 5:27:43 PM

crappy trees I wouldn't plant one. why not an oak

10/12/2008 7:39:59 PM

they do look pretty if u plant them in the right locale

but that pay off is way way down the line, young willows look like crap

10/12/2008 7:50:41 PM

i thought i remembered reading something way back about the fact that willow roots have a tendency to find water pipes, and will break pipes if they "find" them.

10/12/2008 8:00:29 PM

pain in the ass to cut grass around

10/12/2008 8:27:05 PM

IIRC, aspirin was/is a derivative of willow bark

so there's a plus - you can make and drink willow bark tea when you have headaches!

10/12/2008 8:27:16 PM

Quote :

" tey are really hardy trees"

We had one that died after maybe 10-12 years or so.

10/12/2008 8:28:30 PM

If you have a pond/lake, plant some willow tree right on the bank. They look nice "weeping" over the water. Of course, I'm asian. Almost all pond/lake in asia have weeping willows.

10/12/2008 9:25:29 PM

My neighbors in New York had a few huge weeping willows, but they were all uprooted during a thunderstorm one year. They have a shallow root system...so strong winds coupled with heavy rain can soften the soil and allow the trees to be blown over. Luckily they didn't fall on any nearby houses, because these trees were 50-75 ft tall. Plus, every couple of years they would drop large branches during snow storms and wind storms.

They're nice ornamental trees and they're easy to identify. Since moving down from New York I've noticed that there aren't nearly as many weeping willows in North Carolina as there are in southern NY. The ones that I've seen here are very small compared to the ones that grow in NY. Does the clay soil stunt their growth in NC? Possibly the high frequency of ice storms here? Since the willows are one of the first to leaf out in the spring and one of the last to drop their leaves in the fall, that makes them more vulnerable to damage from early/late season ice storms. That probably explains why they don't do so well in the piedmont of NC.

So, in short, they're probably not the best tree to plant here. How about a crape myrtle?

10/12/2008 9:37:10 PM

freezing rain= bye bye Weeping Willow....parents had one, always had issues with freezing rain....would split into and then it is all weird looking. Parents eventually cut it down due to the shallow roots messing up the driveway...dont plant close to the driveway or it will mess it up.

[Edited on October 12, 2008 at 10:02 PM. Reason : w]

10/12/2008 10:01:49 PM

we had one that we planted in a very soggy area of our yard. it helped dry things up and the tree thrived. in just a few years it had grown out and was very pretty. we never had any problems with freezing weather, it would sometimes lose a few branches but never enough to hurt the tree and it always filled back in just fine.

10/13/2008 6:41:12 PM

I have one in my back yard. It offers a lot of shade and really helps the looks of things. I love that tree.

Having said that...

Do not plant it too close to your house. The roots grow near the top of the ground and will reach out pretty far which may end up cracking your foundation over time.

It does take a lot of water. During one of these two week stretches of no rain over the summer it dropped leaves like it was November. It was not much fun to rake leaves in 95 degree heat.

In the fall, and even in the summer, it drops sticks like crazy.

It grows super fast. I have had to cut branches back from on top of the house several times in the past year and probably need to do it again. Yes, this tree is planted a little too close to my house, but I didn't do it.

10/13/2008 7:51:34 PM

anyone seen any willows around campus?

10/13/2008 8:10:45 PM

Nope b/c they suck and we're an Ag school...so we should know.

10/13/2008 8:24:03 PM

^well we damn sure still plant god damn crape myrtles and cant deal with our numerous diseased trees until they god damn fall over on someones car

10/14/2008 12:28:30 AM

I thought this was about a whomping willow i was interested in planting one myself.

10/14/2008 1:43:12 AM

^^^^
I think there is one at the Arboretum. Not sure as I havent been in a while. I think theres one in Pullen Park too.

10/14/2008 8:50:06 AM

Quote :

"i thought i remembered reading something way back about the fact that willow roots have a tendency to find water pipes, and will break pipes if they "find" them."

well if we plant some, they wont have to go far to find water as we have a pesky, poorly draining creek bed in the area that they can take care of.

Quote :

"pain in the ass to cut grass around"

come to think of it, where the trees were previously there are still several weak ass large roots coming through the soil. not a plus.

what if we planted the trees in the creek, then filled it in with dirt

10/14/2008 10:05:47 AM

my neighbors have a willow tree and yes, the roots are up out of the ground and very little grass grows around it. mine is not like that though, and is much bigger than their tree.

here is a picture for reference

10/14/2008 11:04:08 AM

you can get the same pendulous landscape effect from a good river birch

it has a spreading root system as well, but is not as destructive as willow is reportedly. plus river birch leafs out later and drops leaves sooner, a factor if u would like to garden aroudn the tree

it constantly drops leaves and twigs when stressed though

10/14/2008 11:27:07 AM

I loveeee these trees. I kept begging my mom when I was younger to plant one in our yard. But, as people have mentioned and I'm going to stress again -- they need LOTS of water. We live on top of a hill so there's really no low spot where rain runs off to or any place that would be a good environment for it.

10/20/2008 9:04:28 AM

I landscaped for 3 years and these trees look cool but are a bitch to clean up after and also don't plan on planting anything within 5 feet of the tree, unless you plant the tree and shrubs at the same time or within the 1st year of life for the new yard addition. The roots are a bitch to deal with.

10/21/2008 12:43:43 PM

Quote :

" what if we planted the trees in the creek, then filled it in with dirt "

LOL
LOLOLOLOL


the dirt that was there previously didn`t do much to stop the creek, did it?

10/21/2008 3:01:46 PM

oh im gonna stop the creek, you can count on that. but the whole area wont ever be dry in any sense of the word.

10/21/2008 3:26:02 PM