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Miniature weeping pussy willow

kkcjjxkkcjjx Posts: 2
in Plants
I just bought a miniature weeping weeping pussy Willow (Salix caprea). I’m not sure if it had already produced pussy willows or not because now it’s just growing leaves. It did look like it was going to and two were on it that have flowered out…but now just the green. There are no care tips can someone give advice on how to keep this as an indoor plant. Tips on pruning? 
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  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    It's a nice plant @kkcjjx. The little furry catkins come before the leaves so you'll have to wait until next year to see them. They are generally grown as trees albeit miniature ones so therefore it would be happier growing outside just the same as a normal tree is. I've never heard of one being grown indoors but it's your tree to do as you wish with. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • TheGreenManTheGreenMan Posts: 1,957
    Could it not be put on the other side of the glass? 👍🏼

    The catkins come before the leaves so next winter you’ll have a lovely load of them. 



  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited March 2022
    I doubt that would last long as an indoor plant. The amount of water it would need, for a start, would make it difficult. 
    The catkins appear earlier, as the others have said.  :)
    As for pruning - they do eventually get quite bushy, and those branches will keep growing. That's what makes pruning quite awkward. Many people cut them all back and the shrub then looks like a shaving brush or mushroom. It can be better to try taking out some individual branches each year, so that you still have the weeping habit in place, but that would be a while before you'd be at that stage. 
    There was a thread recently about them, and @Silver surfer posted some photos of how many of them eventually look. I'll see if I can find it.

    Here it is. You can see the problem with the eventual look if not careful with the secateurs  ;)
    https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1062272/moving-plants/p2
    There's loads round here which look the same unfortunately. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    They are very pretty, aren't they. This is a little tree, though, and I don't think it will cope indoors like a houseplant. The container looks a bit small already but the real problem is light and temperature. Light levels are always different indoors and it's impossible to reproduce seasonal change. Could you put it outside the window in a larger container for a few years?
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    edited March 2022
    Up here they are extremely popular ..I think builders must have planted them as a job lot. 

    Salix caprea Kilmarnock...all are male so should produce gorgeous catkins.
    But they rarely do.
    They are top grafted... and cab be either dwarf ones or full size standards.

    In actually fact they do not do well...even in the ground.
    As they grow they get a lot of dead branches these need to be removed.
    Many get pruned and have the  pudding basin style trim.
    They can become top heavy and our one in our Welsh garden blew right over.
    Many have to be supported with props to stop them blowing over.

    Personally I have come to detest them...sorry!

    More pics below.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    There's a fair few round here that look like that 3rd pic @Silver surfer. Some people try to prop them up, or stake them, and it often looks even worse.
    There's one I've seen which has had the branches pruned back to around a foot, exposing a quite mature trunk. The trunk is far more interesting as it's all gnarled and twisted. I wondered if they'd just had enough of it and were trying to kill it off  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    There are two 'pussies' in the OP. Indoors others might have aborted early as too warm and dry. I share Silver Surfer's verdict on this plant


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    edited March 2022
    Your eyesight must be better than mine @nutcutlet. I can only see one up at the top.  ;)

    Edited - I've just spotted it!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    edited March 2022
    I use a largish laptop @Fairygirl Can't see much on the phone


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'm on a laptop too - but I still hadn't spotted them!
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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