Pruning of a weeping willow

[sasseee]

We recently purchased property that has a large old, approximatly 30 years old, weeping willow. This tree provides much needed shade and a home for lots of birds. It has some old dead limbs in it, however my questions are:
What is the best time to prune?
Will pruning encourage new growth?
How severly can they be pruned?
This tree is about 40' tall and a trunk of about 24" diameter.

Thank you for your assistance.

 

[Treeman14]

Pruning of dead limbs can be done pretty much anytime. I would remove ONLY dead limbs, do not thin or top. I'd also avoid raising the canopy if at all possible. I think willows look best when allowed to weep to the ground. Pruning dead limbs only will not do much to stimulate new growth. Are you planning to do the work yourself or hire someone?

 

[sasseee]

Willow Tree Pruning

We do allow it to weep to the ground where possible, but we do some triming of those branches so that we can get around under it to sit in it's shade. As for the dead branches, I can do that myself, and it seems to do a pretty good job on it's own when the wind blows. I guess I was wondering if some of the large branches were cut back, would that stimulate growth, or just injure the tree. If it came to major pruning, I would have to hire it done.

Thanks

 

[MasterBlaster]

Originally posted by Treeman14
Pruning of dead limbs can be done pretty much anytime. I would remove ONLY dead limbs, do not thin or top. I'd also avoid raising the canopy if at all possible. I think willows look best when allowed to weep to the ground. Pruning dead limbs only will not do much to stimulate new growth. Are you planning to do the work yourself or hire someone?

Heed this advice, sasseee.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Yes, heading or cutting to a stub will stimulate growth. It will allso stimulate decay and the sprouts that would come back will be attached only to the face of the branch. Sprouts grow fast so thay can put on a lot of weight, and are more likely to fall off. they also get a poor angle of attachemnet, so they do not grow in a way to form a strong union.

This is a survival mechinism in trees so tah they can put on a lot of new growth at once so they can make up for storm damage that would cause such a cataclysmic loss of canopy.