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corkscrew willow
christopher kearley
Posts: 7
in Talkback
I have a corkscrew willow in desperate need of height reduction ( left to its own devices by previous occupier). When and how do I half it's almost 30 foot height without killing it. It's a beautiful tree and a favourite with the birds. Ta.
0
Posts
You won't kill it - it's a willow - they are incredibly eager to grow!
The danger will be that if you cut it back too hard you will stimulate a lot of new growth and you'll be left with a tree shaped like a loo brush.
Do not cut the tree back until late autumn/early winter, this way there will not be so much 'growth hormone' in the tissues. Then I would take out one third of the branches as low down as you can.
The following autumn I would repeat the above with the another third of the branches, and the autumn after that I would cut back the final third as with the others.
Cutting back one third at a time should guard against stimulating the tree to grow lots of new shoots.
The tree will grow new branches and if you keep them at a reasonable height it shouldn't get out of hand again. However, the corkscrew willow is by its nature a large tree, often planted where there is not really enough room for it to grow to its full potential.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.