Weeping Willow question

[Dan Thiem]

Hey what do ya know a forum for the lawn guys. Nevermind my Creeping Charlie and crab grass, I got a question for anybody that might be able to help me out.

About ten years ago I bought a "Prairie Cascade". It was what the nursery told me was a Weeping Willow. It was a 20 gallon pot and cost about 200 clams.

Every spring it comes in great. Lots of bright and perky leaves. But about now, every year, some of the leaves turn black. Some of the branches are bare too.

Any idea what happens to this tree? Every year it does this. If photos can help I can post them.

[Rick]

Weeping willows do best where there is a lot of water. Low ground works best for these babies.

I'm not sure what is happening to yours but if it's not well watered you may want to ocnsider a watering plan during any dry spells.

[Steve Foss]

Rick is right. There are varieties of willow that can do better in somewhat drier soil, but almost all willows like it with their feet in the water, and the Prairie Cascade cultivar is one of the latter. That variety is smaller and more compact than many weeping willows, and was designed at the Morden, Man., Research Center to fit well into a wet and small landscape.

It's not uncommon for willows to shed branches from year to year. In this case, it's quite possible your willow is in too dry a location. But that's just speculation until you post the pics and tell us about the soil moisture where you have them planted.

[83walleye]

Your weeping willow must be mourning in the evening

[Powerstroke]

I agre with catfish, if your willow isn't getting enough water, that could cause you problem. I know people who have drainage problems who remedy the situation by planting water-loving trees. They will use THAT much water.

Another thought I'm having is that your tree may also be suffering from some sort of a fungal disease. This sounds like your leaves first die and wilt before dropping off and that could be a sign of a disease. If your tree was getting short of water then there would be a general wilting throughout the whole tree. If you only lose an occasion branch owrth of leaves or spotty problems, then I would think you may want to think about getting some help identifying the problem at a nursery or garden store to get the right treatment. Usually the treatments are pretty simple.

As a side note, this spring was very wet and cool and fungal disorders like Anthracnose and Apple scab really took a toll on many species. This would be my first guess.