How to Plant a Willow Tree? Detailed Planting Methods and Tips
The willow tree is a highly adaptable tree species with a beautiful shape, often planted in parks, courtyards, along shaped roads, and so on. So how do you plant it? Let's find out together with the editor of Tuliu.com.
How to Plant a Willow Tree
Cuttings:
1. Carry out cuttings in early spring, selecting fast-growing, pest- and disease-resistant superior plants as mother trees for cutting collection, and before budbreak cut 2-3 year old branches, cutting them into 15-17 cm lengths as cuttings.
2. Plant cuttings at a row spacing of 20×30 cm, inserting them upright; after planting, water thoroughly, keep the soil moist, promptly remove buds and weeds, and after roots develop apply topdressing 3-4 times.
3. In the first few years after planting, remove grass and weeds from the base of the plants by hoeing or mulching, and at the same time pay attention to preventing and controlling damage from weevils, aphids and willow leaf beetles.
Sowing:
For willow sowing and seedling raising, collect seeds in April and sow them immediately after collection. Generally about 0.25 kg is sown per mu, and the seedlings reach 80-100 cm in height in the same year. Transplanting is best done from after leaf fall in winter until before the buds sprout in early spring of the following year; after planting, water thoroughly and set up a support stake.
Pit planting:
1. Before planting, dig the planting pits, smaller than 80 cm×80 cm×60 cm. At the same time, evenly scatter drugs such as trichlorfon into the pits to prevent insect damage.
2. After the planting stock arrives, first prune the root system, then plant immediately; when planting, do not set it too deep, and fill good soil all around the bag and press it firm.
3. Immediately after planting, water once thoroughly, and once the water has seeped down, follow with a second watering. After that, within two months, water once every half month to keep the soil moist. In addition, also do a good job of pest and disease control and other work.
Although the willow tree has good adaptability, after multiple generations of vegetative propagation its growth vigor declines, and it is prone to dead tips and premature aging. Therefore, when planting, be sure to select superior, robust, disease-free willows as mother trees.