This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Willow - coppice to standard?
Hi all,
We've inherited a garden recently with a willow (violet/daphnoides I think), which has been cut back hard by previous owners.
It now has 3/4 healthy shoots coming from the previous main stem, and these have grown to 1 or 2 metres. The shoots are coming out at an angle from the main stem, and the tops are drooping (see pics below).
Would it be possible to train the healthiest shoot to become the main stem by staking vertically, and eventually turn it into a standard tree with clear trunk and crown?
Many thanks in advance,
JT
0
Posts
Pollarding is a traditional method of managing willows, particularly in agricultural areas where the poles have been needed for fencing etc, as the new growth is up above the reach of cattle. Pollards are now appreciated as a decorative feature too.
If you look at this link and scroll down you'll see it discusses changing from coppicing to pollarding
https://www.bluestem.ca/willows-pruning.htm
Let us know how it goes
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
They're very easy from cuttings and I think I'd start again from a cutting. I think it would be hard to get a stable base to a tree from what you have there.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks both! All pics I've found of this willow show it growing as a tall shrub, so not sure how successful it would be as a standard tree.
Think I might try to grow a tree from a cutting, after putting it in water for a couple of weeks and letting some roots grow a bit - then stick in in the ground! I suspect it's been coppiced/butchered for years, so I'll probably leave the other shoots in-place and grow the original coppice as a shrub, training the shoots with some stakes to help them grow vertically (they're drooping currently, but think they could stand upright once girth of shoots has increased).
That way, I'll see which is most successful!
Does that sound like a plan?
sounds good to me. I like watching the roots of willow grow in a glass of water. Very educational for kids as well if you have any of those.
In the sticks near Peterborough