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Large Willow Tree in need of cutting back

ashley.jensenashley.jensen Posts: 7
in Problem solving
Any advise will be greatly appreciated. We have recently moved into our new home and inherited a wonderful mature garden. Its a garden totally different to any I have had before as it is damp & shady & has a lot of trees underplanted with woodland plants and lots of bulbs coming through. The garden has been neglected for the past 5yrs and there is a large willow tree at the end of the garden which is hanging over a public footpath and also blocks out the street light ( this was pointed out to us on our second day of living here) I dont want to fall out with the locals so we need to do some serious pruning. I have been told that for every branch we cut off, lots of shoots will come out of the cut so it will become even more of a problem. My question is: Is there a product we can paint on the new cut that will prevent any new growth coming on that particular branch. We would really like to keep the tree but it needs re shaping. I look forward to hearing your suggestions. Thank you

Posts

  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    Hi, I don't know of any products that would do the job you need. With willow you will get lots of new growth and the only way is to just prune this new growth whenever you see it. When new buds form in areas where you don't want them then you can rub them off before they grow. You would likely only need to keep an eye on it a couple of times a year if you are happy for some shorter new growth but if it's high up them this could be a pain. How big is the tree? Do you have a picture? 
  • ashley.jensenashley.jensen Posts: 7
    Thank you for your help. My husband has made a start by taking out all the branches that were twisted around each other and this has opened it up. We can now see which of the large branches need to come off with the chain saw. Would you pollard it hard this time seeing as it’s so woody and neglected ? We will then do it every 2 years to keep on top of it
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    Our willow trees are pollarded every 3 years and the larger branches kept and dried out for fire wood in following years.
    They are pollarded right back to the main trunk and the new growth in the Spring does take place but the stems are thin and only thicken in the 2nd year.
    They are pollarded usually in Dec but can still be done now.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,279
    ashley.jensen said:
    Thank you for your help. My husband has made a start by taking out all the branches that were twisted around each other and this has opened it up. We can now see which of the large branches need to come off with the chain saw. Would you pollard it hard this time seeing as it’s so woody and neglected ? We will then do it every 2 years to keep on top of it

    Sounds like a good plan. Willows are very forgiving. If you pollard every two years then you might still want to thin out some of the new unwanted growth each year in between.  
  • ashley.jensenashley.jensen Posts: 7
    Thank you so much for the advice. I maybe back very soon. I have designed 4 gardens from scratch but my gardens have been a mixture of evergreens and spring/ summer flowering plants. As I mentioned earlier this is a very different garden and I have inherited lots of things I’ve never seen before. It was very well designed and I am very excited to see what turns up over the next 6- 8 months. I might even try my hand at vegetables if it’s possible to grow them in shady areas. Thank you again for the great advice…
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