Hanging kitten willow, hanging willow, Salix caprea: care & cutting

When bees and butterflies gather around the hanging kitten pasture, spring is not far off. The characteristic willow plants have adorned German gardens and communities for centuries and have not lost their popularity over this period. The "fluffy" pussy willow are particularly popular and are cut off in large numbers with the twig at Easter time, placed in vases and tied into flower arrangements. Care and pruning are important for a healthy hanging willow.

Location

The hanging willow is one of the few willows that does not depend on damp locations and is therefore extremely interesting for local properties. The following points give you an overview of the properties that the location for the hanging sal willow should have:

• Light requirement: sunny to shady
• tolerates light shade
• tolerates drought

Kitten pastures are not really demanding in terms of location, but you should really pay attention to a lot of sun. The reason? The more sun is available, the more the hanging kitten willow develops its flowers. With less than four hours of sunshine during the day, it can even happen that the flowers fail. Fortunately, the pasture does not need to be protected, which also makes it suitable for the city. When choosing a location, also pay attention to the space required by the plant. The hanging willow is up to 15 meters high and the crown up to seven meters wide, which requires sufficient space. It gains up to 70 centimeters per year. Alternatively, you can plant the Sal willow in the tub or keep it small with a cut.

Tip: You can even plant hanging willows in a rock garden or on a property without a garden, as they are very undemanding to the external conditions. Due to their modesty, apart from the need for light, they feel right at home in almost any place.

floor

The hanging kitten willow is one of the native plants for which a suitable soil is much easier to find than for other trees and shrubs. Salix caprea thrives in a wide variety of soils:

• nutritious
• permeable
• loamy
• wet
• angry
• dry soils are tolerated
• alkaline soils are tolerated

Typical of the hanging willow is its ability to draw nutrients from almost any soil. This means that even if the soil at the location is only weakly nutrient-rich, this will not have a negative effect on the vitality of the plants. Even strong winds and exhaust gases are not a problem for the crop. On the other hand, it is important to have a soil that does not form waterlogging, as this can lead to an increased susceptibility to disease. You have to pay attention to this when planting.

Buy preferred potted plants

If you don't own a hanging willow yourself, don't know anyone you can get seeds from or if you have no hanging willow nearby to collect, you need an already grown plant acquire. Since Sal willows are very robust, there are often good specimens on the market that you can plant in the garden without hesitation. Nevertheless, when purchasing a plant, you should pay attention to a few points that indicate an already weakened plant:

• dry substrate
• wet substrate
• too tight pot

Often it is not visible if the plant is suffering and nurturing it is not really a problem. As you can already see, it is the wrong addition of water or containers that are too small that are particularly troublesome for the roots of the plant. For this reason, it is imperative that you plant or repot the plant after purchase to be on the safe side.

plants

If you've chosen a kitten pasture, you'll be amazed at how easy it is to plant in the garden. The plants feel at home in particularly sunny spots and can be planted in spring or autumn, depending on your preference. You just have to be careful when planting in the spring on a bare-root hanging willow so that it establishes itself better and faster. In autumn, on the other hand, you have to be careful never to plant in frost, otherwise the hanging kitten willow will suffer a lot from the cold. The suitable dates at a glance:

• Spring: May after the Ice Saints
• Autumn: September to November

Once the time comes, you can start planting. To do this, proceed as follows:

• Dig the planting hole
• Plant hole diameter: two to three times larger than the root ball
• larger planting holes are possible
• Enrich the soil with ripe compost
• add sand to heavy soil
• Take the plant out of the bucket
• free from old substrate
• put in the planting hole
• fill up with soil
• Press down thoroughly with feet or hands
• water well

Depending on the size or direction of growth of the tree, you can place support rods at the location, which can sometimes be necessary, especially with young specimens. During the first year of standing, you should not forget to give regular watering and, especially over the summer, give water from time to time. This helps the plant to establish itself.

Substrate

If you do not have space for the kitten pasture in the garden, you can rely on a pot planting. The big advantage of keeping pots is the small final size of the pasture. Salix caprea usually remains significantly smaller than relatives outdoors due to the limited space available. For keeping in a bucket you need a suitable substrate that provides the plant with all the nutrients it needs:

• Garden soil
• enriched with compost
• Mix in sand in heavy soil

You can of course also use simple garden soil from the trade. The hanging willow is not really demanding on the substrate, it should only be rich in nutrients. Just make sure it doesn't have too much lime as it will make nutrient absorption difficult.

Repot

If you want to keep a hanging kitten pasture in a pot, you will need to repot on a regular basis. The main purpose of repotting is to expand the available root space and refresh the soil in order to guarantee the supply of nutrients. Because of this, you only need to repot every two or three years. Before repotting, choose a bucket that is considerably larger than the old one. In addition, it has to be heavy and stable in order not to tip over, which would severely damage the hanging willow. The bucket must have drainage holes and drainage at the bottom made from one of the following materials:

• Pottery shards
• Gravel (coarse)
• Stones

This serves to protect against waterlogging, which can often suddenly appear in the bucket. When repotting, simply remove the kitten pasture from the old container and completely remove the used substrate from the root ball. The plant is then moved into the new container and fixed with sufficient substrate. Water well and care for as usual.

care

The hanging kitten willow is popular not only because of the pussy willow, but also because of the ease with which it is kept. Except for the pruning, the care of the willow is very easy, which makes it attractive even for beginners. Thanks to the modesty, you can look forward to extensive blooming at the beginning of spring, which attracts butterflies, bees and numerous other insects. Willows are not planted in groups for nothing, as they provide insects with sufficient food for little effort.

to water

Sal willows planted outdoors do not need to be watered. Here the natural water supply from rain is completely sufficient. If it is particularly hot over the summer, you can also give water. Simply orient yourself at the location. In contrast, potted plants must be checked regularly for dryness with a finger test. If the first three to five centimeters are completely dry, simply pour more thoroughly. No more effort is required here.

Tip: If you are afraid of excessive drought in the field or in a bucket, you can apply a layer of mulch to the soil. In this way, the hanging willow can cope well all year round.

Fertilize

In order to meet the nutritional needs of the plant, you must either work compost into the substrate at the beginning of the season or apply a slow-release fertilizer (organic-mineral). This is implemented with the first budding. For particularly large specimens, it is worth adding compost to the soil every four weeks. If you have a container plant, you can also add liquid fertilizer monthly from mid-March to the end of August. That will ensure intense growth. From September onwards there will be no more fertilization at all.

Cut

The pruning of the sal willows is necessary in the spring after flowering or when the plant grows over your head. You have the choice here whether you cut the hanging willow annually in spring and thus create a distinctive crown. Alternatively, you can first cut a hanging kitten willow that is too large and thus keep the natural shape. Regardless of which method you choose, cut the kitten pasture exclusively with disinfected and sharpened loppers. Then do the following:

• Cut most of the branches
• cut completely down to two eyes
• alternatively cut down to three eyes

You can prune back the hanging willow intensely. Due to its robust nature, it sprouts easily. The cut also stimulates the formation of flowers in the next year.

Note: While you can cut as many branches as you wish from the kitten pasture on your own property over Easter, this is not possible with wild specimens. All pastures are under nature protection according to the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) and therefore you are not allowed into the forest or walk along a field and cut branches there, unless you accept possible fines of 10,000 to 50,000 euros Purchase.

Overwinter

As soon as winter is around the corner, the question arises whether you need to hibernate a hanging kitten pasture. If you have planted a willow in the garden, no winter protection is necessary. The plants can withstand even the coldest winters without any problems, as long as the location still has sun. Potted plants, on the other hand, need to be overwintered in the following way:

• Place the bucket on wood or styrofoam
• Pack the bucket
• use jute bags or bubble wrap for this
• Garden fleece also possible

These measures are especially necessary if you keep a hanging willow that is not protected from the wind. You can water a little on frost-free days.

Multiply

Increasing the hanging willow is not exactly easy. The success rate via cuttings is extremely low and grafting via rooted wicker branches (bot. Salix viminalis) is extremely difficult for private individuals. For this reason, propagation via seeds is the best option. After the flowering period in mid-April, simply collect the seeds directly from the tree and plant them in a growing container. This is filled with simple potting soil and the seeds are carefully pressed down. Do not cover with earth or sand, this makes germination much more difficult. Then keep it well moist and with luck you can look forward to seedlings within the next few weeks:

• Select seedlings
• dispose of weaker specimens
• Plant selected seedlings in pots
• alternatively put outdoors

Then care for the small willows like the adult specimens. Even the young plants are very robust and only need to be watered regularly and provided with a little fresh compost. You can reach a height of almost a meter within the first year.

Pests and diseases

The robust nature of the kitten pasture is evident even with pests and diseases. Typical diseases and pests that infest the hanging kitten pasture include the following:

• Powdery mildew
• Willow scab
• Rust stain disease
• Leaf spot diseases
• Willow wood gnats (Dasineura saliciperda)
• Willow leaf hoppers (Aphrophora salicina)
• Aphids (Aphidoidea)
• Sawfly (Tenthredinidae)
• Spider moths (Yponomeutidae)

That sounds very worrying at first glance, but the Sal willow is naturally well protected against them. Normally, you don't have to do anything about the above list. The so-called willow borer (Cossus cossus), on the other hand, poses a much bigger problem. The wood borer butterfly (Cossidae) and its caterpillars cause lasting damage to the tree, as they eat into the bark and permanently weaken the plants. Typical damage caused by an infestation as follows:

• Caterpillars move visibly on the bark
• Feeding tunnels recognizable
• visible traces of feces
• Eating and drilling chips visible in red
• Eating noises clearly audible at night
• Leaves wither
• Branches dry up
• Fungal infections can occur

An infestation by the Willow Borer becomes dangerous if it is very strong. The trees are weakened so much that the oldest branches break very easily and pose a danger to people and buildings. Because of this, you need to fight the animals right away. Either get a large number of parasitic wasps or use a soap broth made from quassia wood (available in pharmacies or on the Internet). To do this, let 150 grams of quassia wood soak in two liters of water for 24 hours and then boil for an hour. Then drain and add 250 grams of soft soap. The wood is then dried and can be used two more times. Use the broth as follows:

• Dilute 1 part broth with 5 parts water
• fill in spray bottle
• spray affected areas
• Leave on for 48 to 72 hours
• Rinse with clean water

This procedure is repeated until the infestation has been contained. You can also cut affected areas and burn the infected wood.

Note: In the event of sudden loss of leaves, the plant suffers from waterlogging. To do this, reduce the amount of water added and completely remove weakened shoots.