We've had our willow tree for 2 years so I'm not sure how old it is. It came from Home Depot in a 2 gallon pot. Any how we didn't know to prune it when it was newly planted and now it seems to need a major pruning. I read on another site that you should stake the "leader" branch to a pole and train it upright when it's young, we didn't do that.. The "leader" branch is now bending down at the top, is this normal or can we do something to correct this. The tree appears to be flat on top, everything is bending down, there is no upward growth at all. We've trimmed it twice this summer, it's all over the ground, nothing growing upward.
Willow Tree pruning
- Thread starter mimiklf
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JeffGu
Antagonist/Heckler
That's pretty much how the weeping willows grow. When young, they can grow six to ten feet in one summer. The height will be more like two feet per year, because of their drooping form. I prune mine whenever the leaders are on the ground... I stagger the cuts so it doesn't have a "pudding bowl haircut" look. I usually have to do this two or three times each summer. This keeps the foliage off the ground so it's easier to mow under them. We've had a wetter year than normal, and the central leaders grew nearly 12 feet already. I stagger my pruning cuts so the tips end up between one and four feet off the ground, giving a natural look.
Is it a weeping willow? If not, what kind, there are many species of willow.
