PUSHING THE BORDERS

Saw this at Harlow Carr at the weekend.



It was labelled as a bog-standard Weeping Willow and i was curious how they kept it so small. We rather liked the fact it was only, say, 2M high and shaggy down to the ground. In fact it comprised three plants:



Is this just the equivalent of Stooling / Coppicing the plant regularly? or something else perhaps?

These look like fairly young plants that have been pollarded only once so far.

Stooling/ coppicing would have cut them to the ground and willow would have responded with multiple growth from that level.

Keeping one stem, but repeatedly cutting back to a height of, for example, six feet is the standard method for growing willow to produce supple regrowth suitable for basket work. This produces a characteristic regrowth shape.

It can be used for weeping willow to keep what would otherwise become a huge tree in bounds. It does look a bit odd after cutting back, and needs to be done at least every three years if not annually.

Chad.

Thanks Chad. Yes, I didn't mean Stooling - brain was not in gear!

Chad wrote:It does look a bit odd after cutting back, and needs to be done at least every three years if not annually.

DO you think could do 1/3rd each year, so there was never a totally "bald" moment? or is that unlikely to work in the shagginess of a Weeping Willow?

I'm thinking of how I cut back some Dogwoods and the like

kGarden wrote:Do you think could do 1/3rd each year, so there was never a totally "bald" moment? or is that unlikely to work in the shagginess of a Weeping Willow?

In my experience, no.

If you don't do it all at once the tree puts most of its energy into the pre-existing shoots that then romp away. Reducing the head by a third is effectively 'thinning it out'.

You can lop whole branches of a weeping willow though. So if you remove 'the leader' even quite far back it looks like a well balanced 'whole' tree straight away.

They are after all [at first iteration at least] fractal in design.

Chad.

That's great, thanks.