The Pruning Of A Weeping Pussy Willow
This is how the Weeping Pussy Willow looked at the end of March 2014. As you can see, it’s developed a beautiful structure.
Here’s the alternate title to this post: How To Make Good On A Bad Prune Job. This Weeping Pussy Willow tree, or Salix caprea “pendula”, has been growing in my client’s garden for about 11 years now. I’m no longer her full time gardener as I’ve since moved south to Santa Barbara.
Over the years I’d been artfully pruning and training it but at the end of 2011 it got hacked by the new gardener (what?!). On five of my subsequent visits to this garden I’ve done restorative and cosmetic pruning. Much to my surprise it’s come back to its glorious self much faster than I thought.
A Weeping Pussy Willow tree is a plant not often seen in gardens here in California. My client, who lives just south of San Francisco, had been her eye on the one in the Wayside Gardens catalogue and finally ordered her coveted specimen. It arrived in a 2 gallon grow pot wrapped in paper and stood about 4′ tall.
We planted it with lots of compost in the moistest part of the garden where the all the water naturally drains off the hill. It had been growing slowly, and with 3 careful prune jobs a year, had developed a beautiful trunk form with a nice shape. So it was much to my surprise when I paid a visit in November of 2011 to discover that it had been “pruned” into what you see below. Action was required!
This is the Pussy Willow “blob” in November 2011. Hey, where’s the weeping?
We had affectionately call this plant “Cousin Itt”, but after a bad haircut, Itt had turned into Bozo The Clown! A weeping tree or shrub like this should be thinned out or just taken off the ground a bit – not all the way back to the trunk. The very same applies to a climbing roses as it takes them a good amount of time to climb and that’s what you want.
The picture above was taken in November of 2011 and fortunately some of the new branches had already started to weep by Spring. In May of 2012 I whipped out my Felcos and pruning saw. I’ll take you on a step by step on how I got this Weeping Pussy Willow back to its glory days.
A close-up showing how thick that new growth was.
I went in and took out a lot of that new growth. You must take it all the way back to a main branch or the trunk otherwise all those shoots will appear again. I also removed some of the older main branches to open it up and bring it back to an interesting form.
In the meantime, Cousin Itt had really started to lean because of the strong winds in this area so a lodge pole stake was pounded in to straighten him back up.
Here’s how looked after I was done. I left just a bit of the new growth shooting upward because we do want it to grow taller.
A close up of the inner structure after I pruned it this past Spring. As you can see, I’ve taken a lot out.
Lots of new shoots always appear on the trunk. Those shoots, the smaller ones coming off the main weeping branches and a portion of the ones heading upward need to be removed too. They’ll spoil the beautiful weeping form (and isn’t that the reason why you buy a plant like this?) as it’ll looks better when it’s thinned out a bit.
These standard plants are sold grafted and will never get significantly taller than the height you bought it at. And this is exactly why the Weeping Pussy Willow will never get as tall as the upright Pussy willow.
I’ve since done a post and video about how I care for a Weeping Pussy Willow tree which you might find helpful. I share all I know about it and outline the care tips.
I did a couple of rounds of restorative pruning letting it grow between each one. Then I started in on the cosmetic pruning and this Weeping Pussy Willow looks dandy as can be. Make sure you know how a plant grows and how long it takes to recover before you have at it with the pruners!
A Link To Help You Out:
Before you tackle a job like this make sure your pruners are clean & sharp.
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Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.
Hi Heather – If it’s only for a season, it shouldn’t be a problem. Yes, ivy is a vigorous grower & over time can inhibit the WPW from getting the water it needs. Also, sounds like the ivy is on 1 side so no worries for the short haul. Nell
Hi Aneta – Yes, you can trim up the branches off the ground but I’d wait a month or 2 so the plant can settle in a bit in its new home. You’ll find that the Weeping Pussy Willows grow very vigorously because they are the shrub form grafted on a trunk & because of this, they need a good pruning at least once a year. Happy gardening, Nell
Aneta,
I had a weeping pussy willow that got fatally attacked by metallic bluish beetles (a tad smaller than lady bugs), which I think were willow leaf beetles. I want to try another tree. What can I do to protect this tree from the beetles?
Second: I’ve seen posts suggesting weeping pussy willows will grow in part-shade. Is that true?
Thanks so much!
Darcy
Hi Darcy – Beetles can be destructive (that’s putting it mildly!) but I haven’t had a lot of experience with them in years. Growing up in New England the Japanese Beetles were rampant but I’ve lived on the CA coast for 30 years now & they aren’t a problem here (at least where I am). I do know that you should spray the foliage with Neem Oil or Pyrethrins when you 1st see evidence of them. There are beetle traps which you can place next to the plant which are another options. I do know that they hatch from grubs out of the lawn so if they’re a big problem, you might want to look into a natural treatment for that. By the way, the Weeping Pussy Willow will grow in part shade. In this post I say “part sun” but that’s the same thing: https://www.joyusgarden.com/weeping-pussy-willow-care-tips/ Hope that helps! Nell
Hi! Do weeping pussy willows have a soil pH preference? I am trying to find a plant partner for Oakleaf Hydrangeas which want a 6.8-7.2 pH. Thank you!
Hi Natalie – I’ve found that they like it slightly on the acidic side but they’re not particularly fussy at all in terms of soil. The 1 that I talk about here grows in the same bed as 2 rhodies, 5 hydrangeas (1 of them an oak leaf), hellebores, pieris, ferns & astilbes. It will grow fine with that oak leaf. Hope that helps! Nell
Hi, I live in Mid Michigan and I have had a weeping pussy willow for about 3 years now. About 4 weeks ago my willow started getting its catkins/buds and then we had a frost. The tree seemed to be frozen in time since, in fact, it is the end of May and it looks like the first picture of this blog. No catkins nor leaves have grown. Yesterday I easily broke the end of some of the branches, but when I moved up on the branches, they didn’t break. Can you please offer some advise? Is it dead? What can I do?
Hi Diane – A late freeze after the catkins have appeared will knock them back for this year. You won’t getting any flowering. The plants are so hardy that there’s no need to worry – it should still be alive. In this case, the foliage will appear later than it normally does. Hope that helps,
Nell
Nell, Thanks for the information. Yesterday, I cut it back significantly to what appeared to be all live branches. I would really hate to lose it. My little grand daughter calls it our woosey puss tree. Hopefully I can get back with you and let you know all is good. Thanks again for the information!
Nell,
I am thankful for finding your page! I have 2 weeping pussy willows that I planted spring of 2015. Did a great job last summer etc… but this spring only one did the yellow puffy thing and has full green leaves on it. The other one only has pussies on it… and most branches felt dead… so, I pruned them all back to the main branches.. it looks hideous… BUT there are lots of green leaves coming now! I assume I didnt kill it? and should I do any thing special for it til the branches start? Fertilizer etc..
Also, I bought then at about 4′ tall and they havent gotten any taller. I would like them to be. How do I encourage that?
Thank you so much!