2 Weeping Willows in bad shape rescued from HomeDepot...

[Treppiede]

Dear Experts,
Today I noticed two Weeping Willows in 6-gallon vases forgotten in a corner at my local HomeDepot.
One seems dead, the other one is close but still alive.

Their pricetag said $30 each, I spoke with a Manager and took them both home for $20.

I'd like to nurse them back to health.

Here's a pic of them, I couldn't get home with daylight:

First thing I did was removing those blood sucking plants from the vase, I then watered them.

What do you suggest I do to give these guys the TLC they need? The first one seems dead, but the trunk looks good and seems somewhat flexible, so I'd love to try whatever I can. Perhaps some drastic pruning might be needed?

Please let me know your thoughts, thanks in advance!

-Walter

PS=Hardiness zones: 7-8

 

[pdqdl]

Did you save them because you wanted to plant them, or did you just feel sorry for the trees?

This is the wrong time of year to try to save nursery stock, but you should have better luck in Georgia than I do up in the midwest.

Two approaches:
1. Keep them watered and prevent freeze damage. I recommend this for the "live" tree.
2. Cut off at the base, and allow the tree to regrow from the root stock. I recommend this for the "dead" tree. Keep in mind that re-growing from a failed plant in a pot is a low probability. You might attempt to simulate spring growing conditions with a hothouse and some extra light... or you could save money and make a cutting off the living one, and re-plant it in the pot of the failed tree.

 

[Treppiede]

Pdqdl: Thank you for your reply.

I always liked Weeping Willows and had been thinking about buying one these past few days. My interest for such tree and the coincidence of finding two in need of rescue at my local HomeDepot (I was actually looking for clumping bamboo for privacy planting) brought them here.

May I ask some clarifications on your advice?

• Should I keep both trees in their pot indoors for the winter (next to a window perhaps) due to them being weak or plant them right away?
• When you say "cutting off of the living one and plant it in the other pot" do you mean simply growing a 2nd one out of the 1st one? I don't "need" two weeping willows, I just need one but I'd love to bring the "dead" one back to life if I could.

Regards,

-Walter

 

[windthrown]

No need to keep willows indoors. I root hundreds of them in pots every year and plant them and also sell them on Craigslist. They are outside here all the time. We get down to about 15 degrees here in winter months. You should pot them up in spring to larger size pots if you do not plant them in the ground.

Also to see if the 'dead' tree is really dead, try scraping the bark with a knife. If there is underlying green just under the bark, then it is fine. That's the cambium, and it tells you that the trunk is alive. If if is brown and woody, then the trunk is dead. I would cut half those branches out of both trees to thin them. Willows tend to overgrow branches every year, and they get a lot of die back in their branches every year. I grow 10 different species of them, and they all do that; die back in sections.

As the others have said, you can also cut them to stumps. You can cut them to any level that you want, really. I would wait until spring to do any pruning though, as they tend to get diseases if you cut them this early in the year. They are the last trees to go dormant here, and they are usually the first to break bud in spring. If you cut them to stumps in spring, you can also cut the stems into 2 foot sections and stick them into the ground or into pots, and they will root and turn into more trees. Willows are about the easiest plants to propogate that there are. They self-propogate all time here in flood years (they get washed downstream and buried under the sands, and sprout and grow).

Great trees, and I love them. Fast growing, great for stream bank errosion control, good bird and habitat trees, good beaver trees (if you like beavers), they are native (at least in North America) and they look nice. My favorite type is red willow. It is a semi-weeping type that is native to the west coast of the US. Good luck with your HD finds. I have done the same kind of thing myself.

 

[pdqdl]

I will defer to windthrown's greater experience. His comments all sound good to me, and I doubt that I have anything more to add. It probably helps that I was thinking just about the same prior to his post.

 

[Treppiede]

windthrown: thank you for the detailed response! I will scrape the trunk on the "dead" one and follow up later on tonight!

Regards,

-Walter

 

[S Mc]

Treppiede, windthrown's advice is very good. I would go ahead and get them in the ground. I am thinking you don't freeze where you are in Georgia? This means there are opportunities for the roots to grow throughout the winter, although at a slower pace. Definitely do not keep them inside. Trees need to experience their natural growing conditions, be they active, dormant or senescence.

And I would also recommend to wait until spring to prune as you may be surprised as to what is "alive" and what is truly dead. Willows are incredibly resilient and can resurrect themselves with the slightest encouragement.

And, by the way, good for you for rescuing these plants.

Sylvia

 

[Treppiede]

Hello Sylvia,
Thank you for sharing your opinion. It is good to hear about their resiliency from you because I have scraped the "dead" one as per Windthrown's suggestion and I couldn't find the smallest trace of green as you can see in this picture where I put them next to each other (of course, another night picture, couldn't make it home on time):

I will follow your advice, keep them outside and wait until spring to prune them. As far as planting them on the ground, I am still unsure on where I'd place them because I am making some big changes in my backyard, the soil might also be still too acidic. Will it be ok if I keep them in their pots for the winter? What would be the most effective way to minimize risk of death from lower temperatures? I heard of rocks or bedding in the vase...

Thanks everyone for the help!

-Walter

 

[S Mc]

Yes, the one little guy looks dead; however, we will hope that there may be some roots still left alive.

What I would be inclined to do would be to go ahead and get them in the ground in a "likely" place, knowing that you may replant at a later date. If you are uncomfortable with committing a spot for this, then my second option would be to...

heal them in. Healing them in will provide a more stable environment; keeping their roots at a more stable temperature. This could be as simple as digging a hole and placing the whole plant, pot and all in the ground, covering with mulch.

What can happen at stores (and even nurseries) in the pots is that not only can a plant get forgotten in a corner, and miss out on the watering, but they can also fry in the sun which will kill their roots.

What we are hoping here, is that there are some little roots left alive that will resprout. Willows are going to have as good a chance as any with coming back "from the dead".

Sylvia

 

[treeseer]

Will it be ok if I keep them in their pots for the winter?

Get them out of those pots and into bigger pots, if you want any hope for a functional root system. Roots are corkscrewed into those pots, which means less health and stability longterm. De-pot the dying one and post a pic of the roots--guarantee it will be ugly and need radical surgery.

imo the $20 was wasted, since you can get better plants just as fast by stabbing a branch into the ground.

No offense meant.