Long, vine-like branches trail down to the ground and sway as the wind tears through them, casting a shade that feels particularly refreshing in summer. The weeping willow (Salix babylonica) is the classic waterside tree: give it moist ground near a pond or river, full sun and room away from the house, and it will grow magnificent.
Wise Weeping Willow facts
Name – Salix babylonica
Family – Salicaceae
Type – tree
Height – 16 to 85 feet (5 to 25 meters)
Climate – Temperate
Exposure – full sun
Soil – moist
Foliage – deciduous
Flowering – late spring to early summer
Caring for a weeping willow, from planting to pruning, will contribute to the harmonious development of the tree.
Weeping willows are preferably planted in fall to enable root development before the first frost spells, so that growth can resume in the following spring.
Feel free to mulch the soil after planting to retain as much moisture as possible in the ground, because weeping willows crave it.
The best technique to multiply weeping willows is cuttings.
It is a good idea to prune a weeping willow in late winter/early spring, snipping back all its branches.
This will trigger sprouting of new branches, and will give the tree more vigor.
No need to prune too severely, just trim lightly, but yearly.
Any risk of disease will become more and more remote, as your weeping willow grows denser and more vigorous.
Willow tree leaves turn yellow and brown, with spots, and then fall off. Twigs turn darkish-brown and dry up.
This is due to scab, which is a disease due to a fungus called Marssonina.
This disease often surges after very wet spring seasons, as most fungal diseases do.
Solution:
Several diseases attack willows, and each announces itself differently. Use the symptoms below to work out which one you are looking at before you treat.
| Problem | Where it shows | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Scab (Marssonina fungus) | Leaves and twigs | Leaves yellow then brown, spotted, and drop; twigs darken and dry up |
| Black spot disease | Leaves and branches | Black spots appearing along the veins |
| Rust | Leaves, both sides | Yellow spots on top, brown blisters underneath |
| Canker | Branches, then trunk | Branches and eventually the trunk dry up and die |
Picking up fallen leaves and twigs restricts the spread, and a light but yearly prune keeps the tree vigorous enough to shrug most of it off.
If you are buying a tree rather than rooting your own cutting, look for ‘Tristis’, a widely grown form of Salix × sepulcralis, the Salix babylonica × Salix alba hybrid behind most of the big weeping willows planted in European parks.
Native to Asia, weeping willows are majestic because of their height, but even more so because of the branches that droop down to the ground and gracefully sway as the wind tears through them.
Its distinctive features are its ground-reaching branch ends and long, vine-like branches. That is where the name of the tree comes from: “weeping” willow. But another equally amazing story also is shared to explain why this tree bears this name: dew and condensation forms when temperatures rise, and then drip down from the leaves above to the ground like tears.
In summer, you’ll feel its shade to be particularly refreshing.
Friend to the wettest areas, it grows perfectly along any body of water and in marshes.
Today, weeping willows are grown on every continent of the planet.
Don’t plant a willow too close to a house, because it grows huge and will block the sun out with thick shade!
