Overview
The White Willow Tree is a large, native, deciduous, ornamental tree of conical habit with slender, elegant branches, drooping at the tips, typically seen growing in water meadows and riversides. Silky hairy leaves give a lovely silvery effect.
Description
Deciduous broadleaved tree reaching 25m in height, often with an irregular, leaning crown. Grey-brown bark, developing great fissures with age. Its name is derived from its narrow silvery leaves which distinguish it from other willows. May be coppiced or pollarded for its flexible young shoots.
Planting Position
Moist deep rich soils, and boggy sites. Good in moist coastal conditions, tolerant of exposed sites. Any moist soil in a sunny position is suitable.
Attributes
Long slender leaves, green above and pale, silky and hairy below, in great billowy masses, creating a characteristic silvery appearance from a distance. Long thin catkins appear with young leaves in spring.
Caterpillars of a number of moth and butterfly species feed on the foliage, including the puss moth, willow ermine, eyed hawk-moth and red underwing, and tortoiseshell and comma butterflies. The catkins provide an important source of early nectar and pollen for bees and other insects, and the branches make good nesting and roosting sites for birds.
Salix alba | White Willow Tree | Bare Root
Whilst smaller trees are often cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving in terms of their level of care required, a more mature tree can provide a fantastic instant impact if you are able to care for it over the first few years.
- Standard or Feathered?
Standard trees - have a clear stem up to a minimum of 1.8m and a well-formed head of branches.
Feathered trees - Usually has an upright central leader and side brancehs that emerge down the main stem.
- Which Girth Size Should I Choose?
Our most common sizes we offer are relatively easy to ship and plant. The measurement is the circumference of the trunk at 1m above the roots.
6-8cm girth - 2.50m to 2.75m in height
8-10cm girth - 2.75m to 3.00m in height
- Standard or Feathered?
