Willow is cultivated as a large shrub or as a small tree. If you cut them back heavily immediately after flowering, it stimulates the plant to grow vigorously in the same year and to bloom lushly in the following year.
Immediately after flowering is a good time to cut back the willow
The willow, which is widespread in Europe, grows wild at the edge of forests and on scree slopes, but is also often used for greening streets and parks. She feels comfortable in a sunny or slightly shaded place. The willow is wind and frost resistant, easy to care for and robust. Salix caprea is also extremely vigorous: between 50 and 100 cm are added every year. A pruning is therefore advisable.
Annual maintenance cut
So that the willow can form many flowers every spring, it is cut back radically in April immediately after flowering. This means that all branches are removed except for the base, leaving only the trunk with a few stubs. If you shy away from such a cut, you can simply shorten the overly long shoots. If necessary, it can be trimmed again later in the year. In any case, the cut helps the shrub to new, dense shoots.
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In addition to the annual care cut, a few other cutting measures play a role in the Salweide:
- plant cutting
- education cut
- topiary
- taper cut
The plant cut immediately after planting is used for optimal branching. In order to train the basically shrubby willow as a tree, you choose a straight shoot and cut off all other shoots directly at the base (training pruning). The topiary keeps the willow hedge in the desired shape and size. The rejuvenation cut is used to rejuvenate bald patches.
tips
If you don't need a large tree in your garden, you can take advantage of the willow's enormous ability to regenerate by cutting the tree down to the first fork or even the stump, thus creating a compact pollarded willow.