Dying Salix Caprea Kilmarnock
By Chrispook
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
Answers
We refer to a previous question dated June 22nd regarding the "demise" of our Salix Kilmarnock which had the identical symptoms of the previous reader.We do wish to replace the Salix,but do not wish it suffer the same fate.Your advice would be most helpful
Thank you
Best regards
Dee armsrtong
23 Jul, 2009
Hello Dee. I guess one thing is to check that local conditions are favourable. I think our hot dry summers did not help. I have replaced with a weeping cherry which I hope will cope better. When you plant your new one make sure it gets plenty of water for at least it's first 3 years. We tried but it was obviously not enough.
24 Jul, 2009
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Check the trunk near the base for any fungal spots etc (they may be pink dots if it was coral spot). Dig out as much root as possible and replace the soil with fresh soil from somewhere else in the garden ( or buy some in bags).
How about replacing it with Prunus 'Snow Fountains'. This cherry has white flowers in spring and good autumn colours.
22 Jun, 2009