Huge, sweeping and romantic, the white willow is a typical weeping willow. Spot it at riversides with leaves draped in the water where it feeds and shelters native wildlife.
White willow is dioecious, meaning male and female flowers grow on separate trees. The white willow is the largest species of willow, with mature trees growing up to 25m. They often have an irregular, leaning crown. The bark is grey-brown and develops deep fissures with age, and twigs are slender, flexible and grey-brown. Look out for: the leaves which are hairy all over at first then, as they age, remain downy underneath and sparsely hairy on the top.
Identified in winter by: green to yellow-brown, hairy, narrow buds which are pressed close to the twig. The slender, oval leaves are paler than most other willows due to a felty covering of fine, silky white hairs on the underside. Catkins appear in early spring — male catkins are 4—5 cm long and female catkins 3—4 cm long.
After pollination by insects, the female catkins lengthen and develop small capsules, each containing minute seeds encased in white down which aids dispersal by wind. It's an A-Z tree guide in your pocket. Like most willows, the white willow is found growing in wet ground such as river and stream sides. Caterpillars of a number of moth species feed on white willow leaves, including the puss moth, willow ermine, eyed hawk-moth and red underwing.
The catkins are an important source of early nectar and pollen for bees and other insects, and the branches make good nesting and roosting sites for birds.
All willows were seen as trees of celebration in biblical times, but this changed over time and today willows are more associated with sadness and mourning. Willow is often referred to in poetry in this way, and is depicted as such in Shakespeare's Hamlet, with Ophelia drowning near a willow tree. In northern areas, willow branches are used instead of palm branches to celebrate Palm Sunday.
The warm, sultry and at the same time romantic look of this plant can literally heat up any garden with passion and memories of hot summers in a sunny country….
Well, the young branches are of the brightest orange hue and when they are bare, they grow up like slender arching flames, forming a basket of fire…. When the leaves come, their deep green is very complementary to the bright orange, which you will still see peeping out from the lush foliage.
No wonder this shrub has won the Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society too, because it will bring energy, a great color effect and lots of fun in any border, bed, hedge or screen you want to grow it in, whether you keep it as a large shrub or you shape it into a tree with a very feisty ginger crown. Like the weeping willow, it has long frond like trailing branches that grow downwards like the hair of a beautiful lady.
Like the weeping willow it has those beautiful and harmonic arching branches that can turn your garden into a temple to Nature. Usually, white willows have a very open appearance, looking at them from below, they appear like a delicate net of larger branches and many threads of pearls falling from them, the whole radiating from the center of the tree…. White willows also have silver green foliage, with long and pointed leaves, which, you may imagine, gives you amazing dappled shade effects when underneath it and beautiful twinkling light effects when you are admiring them at a distance.
Whether you need to add sone light coloring to the foliage of a group of trees, or whether you want a natural gazebo or parasol in the center of your lawn or garden, a white willow is for sure an excellent choice. Then again, just like most willows, its best place is always near some water, like a lake, a river or just a pond. But maybe it is the fact that all willows, big and small, are always elegant, always peaceful and always benign inhabitants of woods, parks and gardens?
Then again willow trees have been the protagonists of our history and folklore and even arguably the trees that have given us our biggest breakthrough in medicine.
Updated on April 23, by Amber Noyes. Amber Noyes born and raised in a suburb Nebraska town, San Mateo. With experience working on an organic farm, water conservation research, farmers markets, and potted plants she understands what makes plants thrive and how can we better understand the connection between microclimate and plant health. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hardiness: weeping willow is hardy to USDA zones 6 to 8. Sunlight exposure: full Sun. Soil requirements: it will grow well in clay, loam or sand, with pH that goes from alkaline to acidic via neutral. It prefers well drained soil, but it can live in poorly drained soil as well.
Size: 30 to 50 feet in both height and spread 9 to 15 meters when adult. Hardiness: goat willow is hardy to USDA zones 4 to 9. Sunlight exposure: full Sun to partial shade. Soil requirements: it will grow in loam, clay and sandy soil. It also grows well in heavy clay soil. The pH can be neutral, alkaline or acidic. Size: 20 to 50 feet tall 6 to 15 meters and 13 to 25 meters in spread 4 to 8 meters.
Hardiness: arctic willow is hardy from USDA zone 1 to 6b. Soil requirements: it prefers loam and sandy soil, but it will survive in well drained chalky soil.
It likes the soil to be kept moist but well drained. The pH can be alkaline, neutral or acidic. Size: it grows to 2 to 5 inches in height 5 to 12 cm. Hardiness: peachleaf willow is hardy to USDA zones 4 to 8. Soil requirements: loam, clay or sandy soil. It can grow in heavy clay too. It can grow in alkaline or neutral soil 6. Size: 35 to 50 feet tall 10 to 15 meters and 25 to 35 meters in spread 7. Soil requirements: it likes moist soil, of pH that can be neutral, acidic or alkaline.
It grows well also in poor soil and heavy clay. Size: between 4 and 5 feet in height and spread to cm. Sunlight exposure: full Sun, best if facing South. Soil requirements: it can grow in loam, clay or sandy soil, including heavy clay. It likes the soil to be kept moist and the pH to be alkaline acidic or neutral.
Learn which plants thrive in your Hardiness Zone with our new interactive map! The most recognizable willow tree species are the weeping willow and the pussy willow, but there are several other willows found in Europe, North America and Asia.
Willow trees are best known for their love of water and their lovely shapes. At first glance, willow trees may seem difficult to distinguish between different species, but you can identify willow trees upon closer inspection of their various characteristics. To help in properly identifying the willow trees, you can reference a tree field guidebook, which you can obtain from your local library or agricultural extension office.
Identify the weeping willow "Salix babylonica" by its short trunk, long drooping branches that often touch the ground and mature size of 30 to 70 feet tall.
Look for long, narrow but slightly wider leaves that are non-lobed, smooth and shiny with fine double teeth along the edges to identify the shining willow S.
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