Features of growing weeping willow: the choice of planting material, planting and care

Willow has many species, among which there are shrubs, trees and creeping species. They grow well, perfectly adapt to urban conditions and are easy to trim. The decorative properties of these plants make them the favorites of landscape designers. The most popular is the weeping willow, which this article is devoted to.

Types of weeping willow

In nature, there are more than 600 species of willows. They grow everywhere, are found even in the tundra and the Arctic.

Weeping willow grows to 25-30 meters and can live up to 100 years. The trunk of the tree is powerful, covered with gray bark. The crown is wide, spreading. The leaves have a dark green tint, from the bottom they are lighter and as if covered with a whitish down.

Weeping willow species amaze with their magnificence and variety. Here are just the most popular ones:

1. White willow. The highest (its height is 25-27 meters) and unpretentious view. Named so in connection with the silver color leaflets. It tolerates frosts and can grow in shaded areas. Looks great among trees with dark green foliage and serves as an ideal backdrop for red-leaved trees.

2. Willow goat (bredana). In spring, when flowering on the shoots of this species, fluffy flowers bloom, and goat willow looks like a huge dandelion. Such a weeping willow is planted at the dacha in group plantings, although it looks more effective in combination with plants of excellent foliage color.

3. The willow is prutovidnaya. Large tree (up to 8 meters) with a large number of branches. When flowering on the branches, small cylindrical catkins (up to 6 cm) are formed, and the shrub becomes fluffy during this period.
4. Willow is the most graceful. Differs from the rest of willows in brilliant brown stems. This type of weeping willow is valued for good rooting of cuttings and for how fast it grows (it takes no more than 2 years to grow).
5. Willow of Babylon. The tree grows no more than 15 meters in height with a crown of up to 9 meters in diameter.Grows quickly, effectively looks in group plantings at reservoirs.

Selection of seedlings for planting

Under natural conditions, willow can breed seeds and in the culture of willow weeping multiply grafting or receiving a sapling.

First of all, seedlings choose winter stem, with good mature wood. It is desirable that the age of young animals was one to two years and they were harvested either in early spring or late autumn.

Before blooming buds, seedlings are placed in wet sand or in a container with water.

Place to plant willow

Weeping willow should be planted in light, sandy, medium loamy soils. The plot should be open, well lit, sunny, possible with light penumbra.

In addition, on the site where it is planned to grow willow, groundwater should be located close to the surface. If you have a place on the site that is constantly buried as a result of snow melting, then it is precisely this that is comfortable for willow.

The optimal time for planting willow

Wanting to plant a tree on your plot, it is important to determine with the time when it is better to plant a weeping willow in a permanent place. The best option - in the spring, when the snow melted. Moreover, the root system of the seedling must be fully formed. You can plant willow in the fall, after the end of sap flow, only on those areas where there is a lot of snow.

Rules for planting willow seedlings

The seedlings are placed in the ground at such a depth that several buds remain on the surface. Before planting a weeping willow, they dig a hole 60 cm in diameter for tree species and 50 cm for bushes. The depth of the fossa should be 40 cm. If the seedling has a closed root system, the fossa should correspond to the diameter of the earthen coma. In the case when the willow is planned to be planted in the form of a hedge, then a trench is dug 40 cm deep and 40-50 cm wide.

For heavy clay soils, drainage is required. To do this, sand or gravel in a layer of 20-30 cm is poured at the bottom of the pit for planting.

In order for a willow weeping to settle down, you need to prepare a nutrient mixture of land, peat and compost, taken in equal proportions. You can add 200 g of azofosca to this mixture. This composition fill the planting hole 1/3 and place the seedling.

Then the ground around the seedling is tamped in such a way that a watering pit is formed around it. At the end of planting, 2 buckets of water are poured under each seedling.

If the dates of cutting willow fell in the autumn, the soil should be covered with straw or dry leaves, and the seedlings themselves should be covered with spruce leaves.

If the cutting is high, for the first time, a support peg is set to fix the vertical position next to it.

How to care for a weeping willow

In order for the willow to grow quickly and look graceful, it is necessary to know the details of growing and caring for these plants. More attention should be paid to the care of a weeping willow the first time after planting.

Watering

Since the willow is a moisture-loving plant, it needs frequent watering and regular spraying.

In the early years, young trees grow quickly, giving a gain of up to 3 meters per year. Therefore, during this period they need to be watered at 2-5 buckets per unit (the tree will absorb as much as it needs). Willow is watered either early in the morning or in the evening after sunset.

Water must be poured not only at the root, but also on the crown.

Feedings

Having planted a tree in your plot, think about how to feed, because growing a lush and healthy weeping willow is hardly possible. Feeding must be carried out in the spring or autumn, while digging the trunk circle.

Any fertilizers (mineral and organic) are suitable for weeping willows. Their introduction throughout the season serves as a guarantee of plant health and elegant look. In the spring and summer make complex feeding, and in August - superphosphate and potassium sulfate. The amount of fertilizer depends on the age of the plant.

In spring, it is advisable to loosen the soil near the tree and add mineral dressings. In autumn, fallen leaves and wild shoots are removed from the site and in October-November they cover varieties resistant to frost.

Haircut and crown formation

If the weeping willow tree is not cut off in time, then the natural formation of the crown will occur - the branches will randomly grow, and the tree will lose its decorative effect. therefore haircut - a mandatory procedure. After pruning, you can get willows of unusual shape and beauty.

In the first years of life (up to 5 years), the plant does not need a haircut. Willow is gaining strength, gaining strength, growing and developing. When the branches grow to a meter, it is worth starting the first pruning.

Basically, the willow is clipped in spring, but you can perform this procedure in the summer. The tips of the branches are shortened by 30-35 cm. The cut is performed directly above the upward bud.

Regular pruning of willow branches will allow you to form a luxurious tree with a gorgeous crown 5-6 years after planting.

Dangerous diseases and common pests of willow trees

Particular attention when growing weeping willow should be given to pests and diseases that can affect this beauty. So, most often willows can be threatened:

• leaf beetles;
• caterpillars;
• spider mite;
• elephants;
• flies;
• aphid;
• mouse-like rodents.

Plant parasites such as dodder and convolvulus are no less dangerous to willow.

Of the most common diseases of willow is necessary to highlight:

• powdery mildew;
• rust;
• necrosis;
• spotting;
• scab.

These diseases appear as a result of high humidity, which is caused by rainy weather. To combat them, weeping willow is treated with fungicides in spring and autumn (for prevention) and at the first detection of signs of the disease.

Besides, bark and branches should be regularly inspected for necrotic signs, in time to take measures to prevent the development of the disease. The affected branches are cut to a healthy area, and cut points are processed.

From necrosis, the preventive treatment of willow is carried out in August or May, for the next season.

If grayish specks appear on the leaves of willow, the plant must be treated with copper preparations.

Reproduction of willow cuttings

The easiest and most convenient way to reproduce weeping willow is cutting. The little seedling quickly turns into a delightful tree. There is nothing difficult in how to grow a tree from cuttings.

Cuttings harvested in autumn or early spring. Choosing young shoots, which turned no more than 2 years old - so more likely that the twig will start.

For growing suitable butt or middle part of the plant, which can quickly form the roots. The cuttings should be 20-50 cm in height and 5-20 mm in diameter.

Prepared cuttings are planted in a container or in a greenhouse at a distance of 20-30 cm. During care, special attention is paid to soil moisture, constantly loosening the ground and removing seedlings of third-party plants.

The cuttings grow pretty fast, but hurry with a change in the open ground is not worth it - the young must overwinter. Only a year later, the cuttings are ready to quickly adapt to a new place and begin to actively develop.

Willow is the most famous wild-growing tree, which is easily recognizable by its long branchy shoots. Due to the unique simplicity of this plant, many gardeners are happy to grow, and knowledge of how to cut a weeping willow and how to properly care for it, will give you the opportunity to have on your site a healthy tree of the most diverse and bizarre forms.