Salix not growing

Hello again

I bought this salix a couple of years ago and it has not grown an inch!
Admittedly I planted it and just left it get on with it :o
what can I do to make it better
Thanks

 

another thread gone missing ???

 

Can you perhaps tell us which type of Salix it is?

 

hello fidgetsmum thanks for replying
I posted all info but the post has disappeared...

this is the tree


not sure if is called salix caprea??

 

I am pretty sure I've seen this called Salix 'Flamingo' Happy to be corrected though :-)

 

thanks RM I think you are right

Just been googling it and it says to prune several times during the spring summer and feed it... well I have never touched it since planting it two years ago poor thing! No wonder is looking sad :(

If anyone can tell me how to prune in very very simple instructions I'll give it a go
thanks

 

Hi PinkFinger.

What you've got there is a Salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki' which, in any other language is a dwarf Japanese weeping willow!

I've got 2 in my garden and you'll be pleased to know (or, on reflection, perhaps you won't!) that they don't grow very much, or at least grow very, very slowly. I've had one of mine for about 10 years, it was about 4' tall when I bought it and it's now about 5'! They tend not to grow 'taller' as such - by which I mean the trunk doesn't seem to get appreciably taller, but the top-growth (the pretty 'frondy' pink, cream, green leaf bearing branches) do eventually bush out and grow.

Mine are in the ground, but they're just as happy in a container. They do need lots of water though and the creamy/white parts of the leaves can get scorched by the sun, but they soon recover. Apart from that, they don't need any special looking after (mine are in my quick drying, sandy soil) and although as I say, they get lots of water, I've never fed them - not that they probably wouldn't benefit from the occasional feed of liquid phostrogen.

With yours, I'd suggest you trim back (what from the photo appears to be) the 'twiggy' bits that don't have any leaves - just back to a leaf joint if there is one, or cut them right out if there isn't and then next Spring, give the growing tips the very lightest trim - by which I mean no more than an inch at most, at least until it's filled out a bit - this will encourage it produce the variegated leaves which grow on the youngest shoots. Cut off any twigs which appear on the trunk and any suckers you might find at soil level - these need to be cut off too - give it loads of water, a feed if you like, mulch around the base if you can and it will (eventually) bush out and become a thing of even more beauty

 

thanks a log FM
I dont mind it getting any taller however I'd like it being more bushy.
Other than that it seems to meet all requirements, as it's in the ground, sunny spot etc
I'll follow your instructions though, if it makes a vast improvement I will post an update later on in the year or next yaer

 

Willows (salix) love moist soil, not waterlogged! and nitrogen rich soil.
so plant it in the ground incorporating lots of manure, or put it in a huge (atleast 10cm bigger than what it is. Sorry cant tell if its in a pot or not. but if its in the ground already get a bag of manure and spread it over the top of the ground where it is planted. keeping the manure a inch from the main trunk. and water daily at least half a watering can in the dry seasons and feed monthly with tomato feed.

However looking at the picture, it looks very similar to my 'dwarf salix' which means it will never grow above 6ft but normally stopping at 5ft

 

my posts gone missing too!

 

i think that there are computer gremlins on this site