Willow

The graceful form of willow, as well as its
exotic Asian origin, make it popular in decorative arts.

Willow is a species of tree that I see often mention in bonsai books, but not nearly as often as an actual bonsai. In all the time Ive been involved in the CBS annual show, I’ve only seen one willow, the lovely example the Jose Cueto displayed last year.

Although the genus Salix-what are commonly known as willows-has about 400 member species, the word willow evokes images of the Weeping Willow. Originating in China, Salix babylonica spread rapidly through human traffic through out Asia and into the Near Eat and Europe via Silk Road trade. Willows  readily hybridize,"promiscuously and indiscriminately" in the scientific literature,so the tree we know as Weeping willow may or not be S. baylonica-botanists are unsure, even to the point of believing the pure species is extinct in the wild.

Willow is well regarded as an ornamental plant, especially for siting near water. It also provides a tough though pliant lumber that is ideal for many uses, including cricket  bats and rustic furniture. The modern pharmaceutical aspirin is a laboratory produced version of a chemical derived from willow. This is the same chemical that makes a tea made from willow bark both an effective pain reliever and an excellent root simulator when propagating plants.

A willow bonsai, just leafing out in spring.

But what about willow as bonsai? Easy to find gorgeous pictures of lush, graceful willow bonsai by searching the internet, but what if you want one in your back yard?  Willows grow at a prodigious rate, and are not shy about abandoning entire branches if they feel stressed. This means that you may put lots of time and effort into planning a good looking bonsai only to have the tree react to your pruning by shutting down those branches and putting out a crop of new buds all over.

Ironically weeping willows don’t weep much. That is, the amount of weep and hang in the branches looks right on a full size tree, but is not proportional for a bonsai. This means that every branch you can convince to keep alive and growing will need to be either wired or weighted. Wiring the branch to get a nice tight down ward curve, and then weighting it to get a nice downward drop if especially effective, and saves on wire.

Willows are also host to several nasty diseases, most of which kill branches and prior to the killing make the leaves and bark look like a splotchy mess. So given the tree’s apparent reluctance to either look nice or stay alive, why are all those photos of willow bonsai clogging up the interweb?

My personal experience with willow, backed up by some research tells me that willows when stressed are much more likely to get a disease and to drop branches. From what Ive seen in my back yard willows are very susceptible to water stress.  The willow in the photo was one that I worked on at a Club workshop at  least six or more years ago. Id repot it every spring and wire branches into place, and it would reward me by dying back with some sort of willow blight that never seemed to respond to the stuff I sprayed on it.  I had the same results with some interestingly shaped cutting from some local willow. I thought that perhaps the trees from ‘the wild’ brought some cooties with them, and these sought out the nursery raised willow from the workshop.

After a few years of getting nowhere with the wild cuttings, they went in the yard waste bin. The workshop willow hung on well enough to stay alive, but never looked good. The entire top canopy of the tree died back, and I had to start all over with essentially on branch and a trunk. Luckily, willows will pop new buds like crazy.

What really changed was the way the will was taken care of. I had been using a standard deciduous bonsai mix, and keeping the tree in the same general area as elms and ficus. Last year after repotting, I watered it by immersion-  pot and all in a plastic oil change pan. It sat there soaking up water while I did other things. I got distracted, left it alone and long story short, that willow sat in that water filled pan all summer.That tree acted like a totally different willow from the one I had been acquainted with! IT grew like crazy, and never showed a sign of the blight or canker or heebie-jeebie that had plagued before.  This spring at repotting, I put it into it’s own blend of soil-75% bark/25% Turface. There were a few dead twigs to remove, but nothing like the usual die off over late summer/winter. Overwintering was different, as well: it had spent all other winters in the garage with the azaleas, pomegranates and Chinese elms. It spent the winter of 17/18 outside on the grass with no mulch!  I cant say that the change in winter care had any effect on the overall health of the tree, other than to prove these guys are really tough.

With care, patience and luck, willow makes a lovely bonsai.

We are used to the idea of bonsai as the art that is never really finished. Keeping a willow bonsai is  pretty vivid proof of that idea. This is a tree that will likely have a different profile from year to year. Success seems to come from keeping it moist to the point of wetness, and accepting that it will not fit into the cookie cutter bonsai styles but will be it’s own thing
 

"Willow Water Recipe" There are two substances found in the willow tree that enhance root growth, Salicylic acid and Indolebutyric acid. When you make willow water, both these acids leach into the water and provide beneficial effects for your cuttings. They help your cuttings fight off bacteria, fungi and infections – giving them a better chance to survive. They also help speed up the rooting process.

Gather about two cups of pencil-thin willow branches cut to 1-3 inch lengths. Steep twigs in a half-gallon of boiling water overnight. Refrigerated liquid kept in a jar with a tight-fitting lid will remain effective up to two months. (Label jar so you won’t confuse it with your homemade moonshine.) Overnight, soak cuttings you wish to root. Or water soil into which you have planted your cuttings with the willow water. Two applications should be sufficient. Some cuttings root directly in a jar of willow water. Make a fresh batch for each use. You can also use lukewarm water and let twigs soak for 24-48 hours. Another way to make willow water is to let a handfull of willow twigs root in clean wa