Pest county, near Budapest, Hungary

When I returned from a few weeks away my Salix Caprea (small ornamental weeping willow) looked moribund. Most of its leaves are brown and dry. The history is that last year I realised that it was not too good, and I thought it had a fungal disease. Its leaves were yellowish with a sooty appearance on the underside. I trimmed it back and cut out any dead wood and treated it with a mild copper based fungicide. (?organic). It looked a bit better this spring in that its leaves were green again though rather sparse. It had some pussy willow in the winter but not so many as before. Over the last 2 weeks it appears to have suddenly died. It is about 3 years old. Any ideas? What weeping tree can I plant in it's place that will be more resistant, especially to our hot dry summers? We do water as much as possible. The position gets some full sun and some shade and the soil is sandy.

On plant Salix caprea

• 22 Jun, 2009