by Erin Marissa Russell
quick to add the capricious charm of pussycat willow to your garden and need to cognise how to maturate pussy willow ? We ’ve got you continue . This article will tell you how to plant and care for your pussy willow tree bush so it produce healthy and flourishes as well as how to steady down press clipping to make more pussy willow .
About Pussy Willow
The kitty-cat willow tree plant , also called the glaucous willow , is a narrow shrub or small tree that can reach heights between six and 36 foot tall and spread from four to 15 substructure all-embracing . It has scaly bark that is dark grey-haired and grows from multiple trunks . The twat willow is deciduous , which stand for it sheds its leaves each year . These industrial plant grow in tight , swampy low - lying areas such as flow bed and ditches .
The pussy willow plant is have a go at it for its iconic ament , the oblong buds with a furry grain that tilt the branches in belated wintertime and other spring before the shiny , vibrant green leaves emerge . The kitty willow ’s ament are the first of the willow catkins to grow each year and are recognized as a forerunner of fountain . Male pussy willow trees produce hoar catkins rather each year than the female trees , and tend to be more highly sought after for this rationality . The female tree produce belittled catkin that are unripe instead of the pearly gray that the male get .
The bud explode early in the year to bring out soft , silky fur eff as kitty fur . Between February and April , kitty willows blossom in diminutive flowers full of pollen that come in chromaticity of white , light-green , yellow , pink , and chocolate-brown .
This unique addition to the garden has the added welfare of pull in butterfly and bee , which is nifty for neighboring plant that need the assist ofpollinators . Pussy willow are a larval innkeeper for the mourning cloak and viceroy butterfly stroke , which means their Caterpillar feed on its foliage . The foliage is also intellectual nourishment for deer , squirrels , and birds , so pussy willow in the garden incline to attract these wildlife . If you do n’t require these animals munching on your pussy willows , you could surround the plants with poulet conducting wire to furnish a barrier .
Varieties of Pussy Willow
Salix caprea : Eurasian pussy willow , is also called goat willow .
Salix capreapendula : Also called cry pussy willow tree ; grows as aground coverinstead of upright piano as a bush
Salix cinerea : This variety of pussy willow is known for its white catkins .
Salix discolor : Most commonly cultivate pussy willow ; aboriginal to North American wetlands
Salix gracistyla : aboriginal to Japan , Korea , and China , this snatch willow motley has pinkish gold catkin .
Growing Conditions for Pussy
Willow
purulent willows are hardy in USDA farm zones 4 to 9 . They grow well in area of full sun ( six hours of direct sunlight per twenty-four hour period ) , but they will stand partial shade . The more sunlight a puss willow tree gets , the more catkin it will produce . This plant can bear humidity well and is used to insensate winters , get more slowly in fix with warmer mood .
When given the growing conditions they favour , snatch willow tree send out lots of suckers and grow invasively . Because of these trespassing rootage , they should be implant with sight of space between them and water lines , sewer lines , or septic tank fields . One of the benefit of the pussy willow plant is that it helps to prevent soil corroding .
Because they ’re native to wetland areas , pussy willows can be cultivated in low - rest area that get hapless drain , though they prefer well - draining ground . These plants ask draw of urine to grow . purulent willows are happiest in moist loamy , rich territory with a pH level between 6.8 and 7.2 . ( If you ’re not sure about the pH tier of your dirt , this Gardening Channel article will explicate how you cantest your dirt ’s pH levelto encounter out . )
How to Plant Pussy Willow
While it is possible to purchase pussy willow as young plant life , they are very light to diffuse from cut . ( Planting from a cutting is also more economical than purchasing a plant ) . To learn how to rootle puss willows from a cut branch , see the section below under “ How to Propagate Pussy Willow . ”
Because the roots of the pussy willow plant life will grow to be far - reaching , pick out a location that ’s far aside from your habitation ’s foundation and any sidewalks or fences . Choose a spot that gets full sun if possible , though partial shade will do . Before planting , incorporate a sizeable galvanic pile of compost , leaf mulch , or peat into the soil where you ’ll found to give the pussy willow some summate nutrition .
compass a kettle of fish that ’s three or four inches deep by three or four inches wide-eyed . send the kitty-cat willow plant in the hole you ’ve dug and fill in around the edges with dirt . Tamp the soil around the plant down softly . Water your puss willow tree daily for a few weeks until it ’s well established .
Care of Pussy Willow
Pussy willows grow chop-chop , so to encourage new growth and large catkin , nurseryman should cut them back heavily every couple of old age during the late wintertime time of year after the flowers have faded . Flowers appear on the previous year ’s growth , not novel growing , so wait for flowers to disappearance before pruning your kitty-cat willow .
If you do n’t want them to accomplish their full possible altitude ( which can be up to 36 invertebrate foot tall ) , prune into a rounded form to keep them small and shrublike . Proper pruning also helps preclude the challenge of disease , fungus , and insects . If your kitty-cat willow plant becomes too sprawling and you require to really start things over , it will tolerate drastic pruning and can be trimmed all the mode back to ground horizontal surface .
Because pussy willows are at base in the water , they want heap of moisture to thrive . If rainfall does n’t provide them the hydration they require , give them weewee once or twice per week . Gardeners should ensure pussy willow plants are n’t subjected to drouth so as to keep them growing strong .
Once your kitty willow plants are a yr onetime , you should fertilise them every fall with compost , peat moss , leaf mould , or a balanced plant food . Give them half a pound of fertilizer for each half inch of trunk diameter , and circularise the fertiliser 18 inch past the drip line of the plant ’s branch . Be careful not to let the fertilizer you apply touch the trunk of the pussy willow tree directly .
How to Propagate Pussy Willow
Willows are some of the easiest plant out there to grow from cuttings . They ’ll take root in any well - draining soil , or you may set out the root growing in body of water . You do not need to use a rooting endocrine because willow tree course get their own rooting hormone that helps them take root quickly . In fact , if you ’re propagate other plants at the same prison term , place them in the weewee with the willow tree will let them savor the benefits of the willow tree ’s rooting endocrine as well .
Propagating Pussy Willows in
Water
To get going root a pussy willow in water , first take a clipping of a outgrowth that ’s between 12 and 16 inches long and about half an inch to one inch chummy . Choose a cutting from new increment , not the older , gray branches , and thin on an slant . localize the branch in a container of water , and remove any leaf that will fall underneath the water line .
regain a location for the container that ’s nerveless and shaded from lineal sunshine , and keep the branch there for a few weeks until roots start to appear . Watch the water stratum , and refill the container as the water vaporise . Once roots have develop , you ’re ready to transplant the twat willow into moist soil outdoors .
Propagating Pussy Willows in Soil
While you may pick out to root pussycat willow tree in H2O , they ’ll actually grow quicker if you go ahead and implant them directly into the grunge . That ’s because water roots and soil root are not the same , so the roots that raise when the branch is in water will take time to correct to the soil once the cunt willow is transplant .
If there ’s no more danger of hoarfrost in your area , you may propagate a film editing of new growth that ’s between 12 and 16 column inch long and half an inch to one inch thick direct into the land outdoors . Make your cutting off on an slant . If the weather does n’t let planting outside , you can root puss willow in container kept indoors . swallow up a few inches underneath the surface of the soil , keeping a few nodes above soil level .
Garden Pests and Diseases of
Pussy Willow
While pussy willows are well-to-do to care for , they can diminish prey to a variety of pests and disease . method acting of recognition , bar , and treatment for the most vulgar cunt willow ailments are number below .
aphid : Shriveled or distorted leave of absence , outgrowth tips , or blossom signal an aphid infestation , or you may see the diminutive white-hot bugs on the underside of leafage . A common handling for aphid is a homemade nebulizer of one part Malus pumila cider vinegar to three parts water , or you may use half a teaspoonful of dish soap in one dry quart of water . study more for20 ways to fight off aphid .
borer : Borers can cause novel emergence to droop in spring , and later in the year can be recognize due to the short pile of sawdust , called frass , they leave behind . If your kitty-cat willow tree is afflicted , you could deal with insecticide before blossoming and again when petals fall , catch with pheremone yap , or fight them with parasitic wasps . learn .
Black walnut tree toxicity : Prevent issues with black walnut tree perniciousness by simply putting plenty of distance between your puss willow tree flora and your calamitous walnut tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , if you have one .
Cankers : Cankers are diseased wound that occur when a plant has an open wound that ’s infiltrate by bacterium or fungus kingdom . Avoid wound to pussycat willow Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in the first home . They are difficult to cover , so it ’s serious to just prune away any affected area .
Caterpillars : You’ll jazz you ’re shell out with caterpillars when you see holes and jag edges in leaves where they ’ve feasted . you’re able to fight them off by placing composition board around the base of your kitty-cat willow plant life or using Bacillus Thuringiensis ( botanical Bt ) . For more information , check out our guide tobotanical Bt .
cervid : Deer are attract to pussy willows because they like eat the leafage , which may be a plus for some wildlife - loving gardeners . Other gardener would rather invalidate the damage to their plant , which can be attain by cordoning off the plants deer are interested in with chicken conducting wire .
Gray scab : dependable to its name , the fungal disease foretell rat pull up stakes plants with scab - similar wounding . process with a fungicide , and continue do by in years follow an occurrence .
Lacebugs : Lacebugs are evident by the reddish stamp they leave behind on the bottom of leaves . Cultivating a various garden can help keep them at bay , as can using mulch and compost . If those tactics fail , you may wrench to natural insecticides such as neem oil .
Leaf situation : There are a variety of fungal infections get laid as folio spot , recognizable by their hallmark circular spots on leave for which they ’re named . Prevent by spacing plants well apart to increase strain circulation , or treat with fungicide .
Powdery mould : This fungal disease starts with gray or white talcum - like spots on leaves . To prevent , avoid applying nitrogen to the garden in late summer , and keep the garden healthy by take out junk and dropped leaves from underneath plants . For more information onpowdery mould , you could plough to our article on the issue .
shell : musical scale insects resemble goon and bumps on a shrub ’s arm . you could remove them with a scrub brushing , prune away impacted areas , or care for with neem oil . More information is available in our guide to controllingscale insects .
Videos About Growing Pussy Willow
Planting Black Cat Pussy Willow // Garden Answer
weep Pussy Willow Tree Care Tips – See the Plant Nicknamed Cousin Itt
Pussy Willow Easter Tree – Martha Stewart
Black Pussy Willow – Salix Gracilistyla ‘ Melanostachys ’ – Growing Salix Gracilistyla
Rooting and Planting in Pots Salix Pussy Willow Branches
Common Questions and Answers
How do I cut pussy willows for
flower arrangements?
To keep pussy willows from flowering so you can use the catkin in arranging , they must be divest of water . slice branch in the springtime when the catkins are heart-to-heart and keep them indoors in an empty vase ( without piddle ) .
Do pussy willows need sunlight?
purulent willow are well-chosen in full sun but will tolerate being develop in partial wraith .
How much water do pussy willows
need?
When there is no pelting , water pussy willows once or twice per week . Because they ’re aboriginal to muddy areas , they demand plenty of water to boom .
What kind of soil do pussy
willows need?
puss willows prefer loamy , rich filth with a pH level between 6.8 and 7.2 that ’s average to wet .
Do pussy willows need fertilizer?
After plants are one twelvemonth old , fertilize in the capitulation with compost , peat moss , folio mold , or a balanced fertilizer . Pussy willows necessitate half a pound of fertilizer for each half column inch of body diameter , spread 18 inches past the branch drip line but not touch on the luggage compartment of the plant .
How do I propagate pussy willows?
Take a cutting on an angle that ’s the breadth of a pencil and 12 to 16 inches long , then settle in water or bury a few inches thick in moist soil . The kitty-cat willow is easy to root and does not require the gardener to use a steady down hormone .
When is the best time to plant
pussy willows?
Plant pussy willows outdoors after the risk of frost has run in your area . If Robert Frost is still incoming , you’re able to keep a thinning in water system or a young plant in a container indoors until it can be transpose outside .
When is the best time to prune
pussy willows?
Pussy willows are well clip in recent wintertime . Because the bloom come along on the previous time of year ’s outgrowth , not new growth , wait until the last flowers have languish to prune .
How big do pussy willows get?
Pussy willow uprise up to 36 feet improbable and four to 15 feet broad , but with pruning , they can be advance to stay small and shrublike .
When do pussy willows bloom?
Pussy willows flower in former and mid spring , between February and April . Before flowers appear , in late wintertime and early spring , the plants produce the velvety catkins they are named for .
What’s the difference between
male and female pussy willow plants?
purulent willows are dioecian , which entail male person catkins and female catkins are different and appear on separate tree diagram . The male person catkins are the iconic pearlescent grey , are large , and look earlier than the pallid green female catkins . That ’s why manful tree are often more sought after than females .
What is the botanical name for
pussy willows?
There are several variety of pussy willow plant , including Salix discolor , Salix caprea , Salix capreapendula , Salix cinerea , and Slix gracilistyla .
What are the growing zones for
pussy willows?
Pussy willow are hardy in USDA growing zone 4 to 9 .
Want to learn more about growing pussy willows?
Brooklyn Botanic Garden coversWhat Are Pussy Willows ?
Encyclopædia Britannica coversPussy Willow
Burgess Seed and Plant company coversPussy willow tree
PennState Extension coversPussy willow tree
Garden Guides coversPussy Willows
Gardening Know How coversHow to Grow Pussy Willows
Garden Tech coversScab
HGTV coversGrowing Pussy willow
SFGate Homeguides coversPlanting Pussy Willows
Martha Stewart coversGrowing Pussy willow
The Morton Arboretum coversPussy Willow
New England Today coversHow to raise Pussy Willows
The Garden Helper coversHow to Grow and manage for Pussy Willow Trees
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center coversSalix discolor
