TREES > WILLOW > VARIETIES

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WILLOW guide

sun visible behind the twisted branches and hanging foliage of a willow tree

Container GrowingPruningVarieties – Corkscrew – Flamingo – weep

‘ The Willow Tree ’ as we sleep with it is actually rather more than one tree – over a hundred in fact .

But that is far from all : Willow tree are members of Genus Salix which comprise over 400 species – many of them are shrubs , both upright and creeping.1Harris , S. ( n.d.-d).Salix specie . Oxford University Plants . Retrieved March 27 , 2023 , fromhttps://herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/plants400/Profiles/st/Salix

willows and other trees by a waterway

Tortured Willow

Many Willow varieties are first - pace landscaping and architectural Tree for any number of reason .

These attractively - furcate small to intermediate - large tree diagram are shapely and elegant to set about with , and they are conformable to clip and shaping .

Some species grow to over 15 m while other variety ’ sizes are very much on the small side so they make perfect trees or magnanimous bush for low front G .

corkscrew willows

Tortured Willow

Some species are pruned and trim to make living hedges .

Many mixture ’ trees bend and persuade while producing a melancholic sough as the wind rustles through them which is a quality not many trees apportion with the Willow .

And then there are those hue the leaf comes in – white-livered - gullible , brilliant green , chicken feed green , pinkish , silvery , bronzy , and prosperous !

two golden weeping willow trees, one behind the other, growing in a lawned area

Many coinage ’ foliage also changes in shade with the season , usually becoming progressively deeper and warmer .

The various Willow mintage have weak wood and weaker woods .

But the flip side is that Willow Sir Henry Joseph Wood is waxy with much more flex than other woods and it is also lightweight ; indeed , a exceptional type of willow tree , Salix alba , is the only wood used for making cricket cricket bat .

two corkscrew willow trees with unusual twisting branches against a blue sky

In addition , Willow is the Ellen Price Wood of pick for baskets and wickerwork , and also for divining rod cell , wands , and woodcraft including carving .

1) Golden Weeping Willow

Botanical Name : S.×sepulcralisvar.chrysocoma

One of the more full-bodied Willow species , and is also one of the most aesthetic and popular .

Those well - known crying limb drip with weepy foliage , as it were , make a beautiful sight and more so because of the gilt lustre that the new green leaf have , and which they return to in autumn .

a single pussy willow tree on the edge of farmland and clear blue sky in the background

A height of 8 - 10 m is usual for this species but some specimens can grow to 15 m.

Uncommonly for willows , this multifariousness is usually monoecious though dioecian character are also happen .

This variety has received the RHS Award of Garden Merit .

Salix alba growing next to a riverbank in a park area

2) Corkscrew Willow

Botanical Name : S. babylonicavar.pekinensis‘Tortuosa ’

The Corkscrew Willowexhibits an erect riding habit but with a ‘ twist ’ : the limb , branches and even the leave are incredibly contorted and twist as if they have been tortured , hence the name of the tree .

Because of this rare dimension , it is the form and figure of the tree that is of sculpturesque interest ; as a issue , it is when the tree sheds its leaves in autumn that the very uncommon theatrical role of this tree comes into focus .

flamingo willow with pink flowers sat in front of a log store

It is relatively fast - growing and reaches a peak of 12 - 15 m.

It bears mentioning that the uttermost and extraordinary line that two coinage of the same genus , Weeping Willow and Tortured Willow , make with one another is unique in the Plant Kingdom as one is completely graceful and flow and the other so impossibly grumble and jagged .

3) Goat / Pussy Willow

Botanical Name : S. caprea

One of the species aboriginal to the British Isles .

It has two distinctive feature article .

close up of yellow catkins on a salix irrorata tree

First , unlike most Willows this one has broad , oval leaves ; secondly , it produces fairly big , furred cream - Zane Grey ament with the manlike one being giving and thick .

These land to mind a cats ’ fag end , hence the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s loose name .

It can be pruned to acquire as a bush though it is unremarkably ( fortunately ) develop as a tree .

Salix viminalis at the edge of a riverbank with long wiry branches growing from its trunk

It is on the small side , reaching a height of 8 - 12 m.

4) White Willow

Botanical Name : S. alba

This is a native of the British Isles where it is recover in nature by riverside and other watercourse .

It has some interesting dimension and even more interesting habits .

large weeping willow growing in a park

It is one of the quickest - growing Willows and also one of the largest , reach heights between 20 - 25 m at due date .

As a result , in high twist , even by Willow standard , its boughs break frequently .

For this reason it is usually carefully pruned .

blossoms of eared willow tree

Its narrowly lanceolate foliage , though of a obtuse , bluish - immature chromaticity , look silvery - livid from a distance , especially the undersides , and this effect gives this mintage its cozy name .

5) Flamingo Willow

Botanical Name : S. integra‘Hakuro Nishiki ’

TheFlamingo Willow is technically a shrubbut makes the small of trees with an average height of 2 m , topping out at 2.5 m.

The narrow , lanceolate leaves at up to 10 cm long further set off the small size of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .

large round shrub of Salix purpurea in heavily mulched ground

The defining characteristic of this highly ornamental tree is color – and more colours .

unused natural spring leave are pink ; as they age they become vary pink and unripened .

At the same metre its ament are a creamy yellow or golden xanthous .

a row of Salix fragilis trees between hedges

Summer foliage is predominantly green but with pink and creamy diversification , and when the leave start to come in autumn , you still get colour as the expose branches are a rich bronzy reddish - orange .

This little tree is idealistic for a townhome ’s courtyard garden . RHS Award of Garden Merit .

“ This variety works   well as a top grafted tree diagram in a container and can be trained to give a spiky lollypop look , ” shares Horticultural Consultant Dan Ori .

“ These flamingo lollipop can be utilised well in twain for frame entrances . I still prefer this plant get as a shrub , but no matter how you grow it , I recommend   cutting it back each winter to bask the best colourful growth . ”

6) Blue-Stem Willow

Botanical Name : S. irrorata

Our last entry , is not really a ‘ Willow Tree ’ ; rather , it must be promise a Willow shrub .

Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or shrub , this specie is also spectacular because of its season - farseeing display of colours , and it too is an splendid choice for a townhome ’s courtyard garden as it grows to only 2 - 2.5 m with a spread of 3 - 4 m.

Numerous branches emerge from earth level .

Even as they stock they are of a unclouded blue through lilac to lavender hue , a colour it conserve in some or another shade through to autumn when it is particularly striking when the branch are bare .

In late wintertime it abide small ashen heyday .

leap ushers in even more colours as this Willow bring about grey catkins with salient ruby anthers .

Yet another recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit .

More Willow Types

7) Basket Willow

Botanical Name : S. viminalis

8) Weeping Willow

Botanical Name : S. babylonica

9) Eared Willow

Botanical Name : S. aurita

10) Purple Willow

Botanical Name : S. purpurea

11) Crack Willow

Botanical Name : S. fragilis

Remember that these tree are notorious for snap limbs after a minor violent storm or even eminent air current – so be thrifty where you grow them !

References