Willow tree needs help

Hi

I have a large willow tree in my garden. This year it has dropped it's leaves early and has turned brown. The ends of the branches when you break one it does not seem dry. I have had a couple tree surgeons come and they seem to want to pollard it. I am reluctant as there has been little evidence from them of the cause. What advice can anyone give me to know what's best to save this beautiful tree?

 

Welcome. Not sure which willow you have. We have crack willows and they have dropped their leaves already. We do pollard them but not yet, too early. There was a weeping willow near us that was damaged by storms 2 years ago and huge branches came off. The tree was pollarded and it has recovered and showing good growth.

 

It is a weeping willow. So we should pollard it then? When would you do that?
The facts it's browned is not a concern?

 

Not an expert but if the tree people feel that pollarding it maybe the best solution then maybe give it a go. Willows are very strong and will grow back unless there is an underlying issue. Check back with the tree people and see if they can give you more answers. Again the weeping willow near us has sent out dozens of new shoots and they are weeping. If the tree seems to be "dying" then you have nothing to lose by pollarding it which can bring back new growth.
Maybe others will have better ideas.

 

Ive got a small weeping birch that lost its leaves early 2 years ago. Theyvwent brown then dropped. From memory i think it was a type of blight infection or maybe a pest attack ?
I would wait and see how it fairs next year before getting stuck in with the pruning. Tree surgeons will always recommend it needs their attention

 

Thanks, that's my thoughts too, very quick to chop chop. I am happy to trim it back and will probably benefit from it. However it would be good to know what the cause is.

 

Willows will generally stay pretty green if they're wet enough, but it also depends on where you are and how you're growing it @George kyriacou. Many of them are perfectly happy to be pollarded or cut back because they can get enormous in the right site and conditions.

Have you got a photo? Is it in the ground or potted?

 

It's a big tree and old. I will send a photo later this evening, it's in the ground and has been for a very long time.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner George. @shiney has a large willow in his garden and I'm sure he can help you with this.

 

Here is an image of the willow.

Any other advice is really appreciated.

 

Looks reasonably normal for the time of year. The photo is too far away though to be sure of anything. Sorry.
Some of the [very plentiful] ones round here still have some green foliage, but it's been incredibly mild for this part of the country, so everything has stalled a bit, and many trees still have quite a lot of foliage/colour. If you're in a mild area, perhaps it normally keeps it's foliage longer, and that's why you're concerned?
There's a lot of other trees/hedging nearby so is there a chance that it's suffered last year - many areas had serious drought, and it could just have affected it more. Damage isn't always seen right away. Those mature trees/conifers will have taken a lot up in dry spells, especially any conifers as they're very shallow rooting, and willow doesn't like being short of water. There looks like quite a lot of dead material in those other trees/shrubs nearby.

They [willows] just grow here without any help so it's hard to know if it's a major problem of some kind, or just old age. Perhaps a close up will help. Others may have more advice for you though.

 

I will take more images tomorrow.

Thanks again for advice

 

Not expert advise by any means,can only say what I would do.
It seems smaller than most of the surrounding trees, so I'd leave it alone.
Pollarding is for situations where you think it's getting too tall.

Pollarding it would take some stress off the roots I guess.

But often that kind of thing just forces lots of growth next year as a reaction to the cut back.

 

Here are some more images