Twisted Willow

averyadrian

I planted a Twisted Willow about ten years ago, and it grew strong and healthy, from three feet tall to its current twenty five feet tall - until last year in september when it apparently died all in one month. I had hoped part of it might recover this spring, but no, it is stone dead. Anyone have any idea why?

Obelixx

Willows are not very long lived trees if left to their own devices but 10 years is short.  They last longer if pollarded or trimmed to keep them keen.

Maybe yours was stressed by last year's drought in some areas.  There is a fungal disease called will anthracnose and it may have succumbed to that.

averyadrian

Thanks Obelixx, but the tree is next to a stream and never dries out, and there is no sign of disease. The leaves dropped over 4 weeks leaving just browning dead wood.

Dovefromabove

Are other willows in your area back in leaf already ... they're still bare around here.  

averyadrian

Live in deep south (worthing) so others spotted in bud already

Dovefromabove

   Maybe it's just late ... in a cooler spot perhaps .... I'll keep my fingers crossed.  Suddenly losing all its leaves in September wouldn't alarm me ... not having any leaf buds by the end of April would. 

Obelixx

I have a very young one taken form a cutting from my garden in Belgium 2 years ago.  In January I planted it on the edge of a pond in this new garden and since then it has rained so much it has water half way up its main stem.  It started producing leaves only 10 to 14 days ago whereas the weeper at the other end started into leaf 2 months earlier.

Maybe, as Dove says, yours is just late and why not?  It's been a very long cold winter.  Lots of plants are late this year.

Jellyfire

We had a big twisted willow when we moved here, not sure how old but it was about 30ft tall. We had the same thing, just died completley one winter. I couldn’t see any obvious signs of disease but it was a particularly cold, and snowy winter , much like this one and I put it down to that at the time (no idea if they are actually less hardy than a native willow though)

Hostafan1

Honey fungus got mine. It took 3 years to die.

Chorlton Home Garden

Against all advice and common sense, I have one of these in a pot; planted 3 years ago now. I have no open ground as we live in a rented house but really wanted one.

Anyway... I have to water this profusely in the Summer and ever year I think I have killed it as it drops all it's leaves when I can't get to it in time. Thankfully, so far, it always comes back in Spring and I just have to trim the dead, blackened branches. Obviously, it's fairly small given the growing condition.

Tough trees but temperamental.  

Obelixx

Mine was kept in a pot from when I took the cutting in teh summer of 2016 to when it was planted out earlier this year but that's cos I wanted to bring one form my old garden to this one and then we had a 17 month drought so it couldn't be planted.  I kept in shade from the midday sun and watered it every day, sometimes twice in the hot weather.

So far, so good, but late to come into leaf.