Tree · Salicaceae
Weeping Willow
Salix babylonica
With room to spread, the weeping willow lets long green branches pour down and sweep across the ground.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
USDA 6–8
30–50 ft · 9.1–15.2 m
Overview
The weeping willow shows itself in a curtain of long, slender branches that hang almost to the ground. Each thin stem is loose and pliant, so the whole canopy stirs and sways with the slightest breeze, rippling like water beside the ponds and streams it favors. It belongs to the willow family under the name Salix babylonica, a tree whose true home lies in China.
It is a fast-growing tree, and it builds that trailing green mass quickly, reaching 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15 m) tall and just as far across in only a few years. The wood beneath the soft foliage is another matter. It is brittle and snaps easily, and the shallow roots spread wide and near the surface, so the tree needs open ground clear of drains, paving, and foundations.
Under full sun and damp soil, that green cascade fills out with little help. The cost shows in fallen litter, limbs torn loose by storms, and a life that is short for so large a tree. Set where its roots can run and water sits close, few trees match its long, drooping sweep.
Care
The short version: the weeping willow wants full sun and damp ground near water, open room clear of pipes and pavement, and late-winter pruning of its brittle stems so storms do not tear them loose.
Light
The weeping willow reaches its fullest, greenest canopy in full sun, though it holds up in partial shade. The more light strikes those trailing stems, the denser the veil of foliage, and the sun dries each wet leaf quickly, which keeps fungal spotting off the surface.
Water
Its roots want to sit in wet ground. The tree stands happily at the edge of ponds and streams, endures standing water and the odd flood, and holds its green best where the soil stays consistently moist. A short dry spell it survives, but in a real drought without water the slender leaves fall away.
Soil
The tree grips almost any ground. It takes clay, loam, or sand and roots into acidic or alkaline soil alike, and unlike most trees it clings on through poor drainage and soaked, waterlogged sites.
Temperature
The wood and foliage endure a wide swing of weather, holding from -9°F to 100°F (-23°C to 38°C). That range carries the tree through hard, freezing winters and hot, dry summers across most temperate ground.
Humidity
The open outdoor air suits it, so there is no reading to chase. What the leaves need is moving air, since a still, packed canopy traps moisture on the foliage and lets leaf disease spread.
Feeding
A balanced general-purpose tree fertilizer in early spring feeds a young tree as its stems lengthen. Once the roots take hold on moist ground, the tree seldom needs feeding and puts on growth on its own.
Pruning
Cut in late winter to early spring, before the buds break into leaf, clearing dead, weak, and storm-torn wood. Because the wood is brittle and cracks under ice and snow, shortening the weak, narrow forks now spares the larger limbs later.
Repotting
This tree stands in open ground, not a pot, so there is no repotting. Starting from nursery stock, set it out before the roots coil in the container or rise and girdle at the base of the trunk.
Size & spacing
The mature tree throws its branches to 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15 m) overhead and stretches the same distance across. Clear that full 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15 m) of ground so the wide roots and drooping crown fall well away from buildings and pipes.
When to plant
The weeping willow settles into the ground in spring or fall, once the soil loosens and the deep cold lifts. Its flowers come early as slim catkins, in April and May, opening on the bare stems with or just before the first green leaves.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Spring or fall, after the ground is workable
- Harvest: Catkins appear in early spring (April to May), before or with the leaves
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 6–8
Temperature: down to -23°C
Troubleshooting
Trouble tends to show on the long leaves, the new shoots, and the brittle stems, and a tree pushing out this much growth can hide a problem in all that foliage before it spreads. The signs below tell you what to look for up close. Match what you see on leaf or stem, then act.
Woody galls swelling at the crown
Rough, tumor-like galls swelling on the crown and roots are the mark of crown gall, a bacterium with no cure once it is inside the tissue. In airless, soaked soil the roots may also darken and rot. Dig out and destroy a badly galled tree, drain the wet ground where rot takes hold, and never cut or bruise the roots or lower trunk as you work.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy severely galled plants
- Avoid wounding roots and crown during cultivation
- Improve drainage where root rot is suspected
Blackened shoots and scabby spotting on leaves
When willow scab and black canker infect one tree together, the pairing is called willow blight, and the fresh shoots turn black and die back fast. Cut out and burn the blackened, cankered wood, gather every spotted leaf off the ground, and thin the canopy so air moves between the stems. A labeled fungicide is worth using only in a severe year, and only behind that cleanup.
Fix:
- Prune out and destroy blighted and cankered shoots
- Rake and remove fallen infected leaves
- Improve air circulation and avoid overhead wetting
- Apply a labeled fungicide in severe cases following extension guidance
Curled, sticky leaves or sawdust down the bark
Leaves that curl under a glossy, sticky film usually carry aphids or scale at work on the sap, while trails of sawdust and small holes in the trunk mark borers inside the wood. Wash aphids off with water or coat scale in horticultural oil, and keep the roots watered so borers meet firm, vigorous wood. Any stem the borers have hollowed is cut away and destroyed.
Fix:
- Hose off or treat aphids; horticultural oil for scale
- Maintain vigor with adequate water to limit borer attack
- Remove and destroy borer-infested branches
- Use labeled insecticides only when infestations are severe
Stems that crack and split in storms
The pale wood is brittle by nature, so limbs split at the narrow forks whenever ice, snow, or wind drags on them. Cut out the broken and weak stems as soon as they show, and shorten any overreaching limb so the storm has less to pull. Shaping the young tree builds tighter, stronger forks that hold for years.
Fix:
- Prune out broken and weak limbs promptly
- Reduce overextended branches to lessen storm loading
- Remove deadwood regularly
Toxicity
For animals, the weeping willow is not a poisonous tree. Its slender leaves and thin twigs are safe around cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, livestock, and birds, and rabbits gnaw willow readily as a browse. The one part to watch is the bark, which carries salicylates, the natural source of aspirin, so it should not be eaten in quantity.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
A nibbled willow leaf will not poison a cat. As with any leaf it is not used to, a cat's stomach may turn briefly unsettled, so a persistent chewer is best drawn to something else.
Dogs None
Weeping willow sits safely around dogs, and a mouthful of the slim leaves does no real harm. Keep a dog from tearing off bark in quantity, though, since the bark holds the salicylates behind aspirin.
Horses None
Horses browse the willow's foliage without harm, and those leaves have long been counted harmless to them.
Rabbits Safe
Willow leaves and thin twigs are a familiar safe browse for rabbits, often set out as something to gnaw.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep crop willow foliage without ill effect, and the leaves carry no poisoning risk to a grazing herd.
Birds Safe
Birds nest and forage among the trailing branches freely, and neither the leaves nor the catkins threaten them.
People Safe
Weeping willow is not a poisonous tree, so its leaves hold no danger for people. The one part to note is that the bark carries salicylates, the natural source of aspirin, so it should not be eaten in any quantity.
No special toxicity handling required; as with any plant, discourage pets from chewing large quantities of foliage or bark.
Varieties
A few named willows are set apart by the twist or color of their stems and branches, and these three are the most distinctive.
Tortuosa (Corkscrew / Contorted Willow, Dragon's Claw Willow)
Its stems, shoots, and leaves coil into a tight corkscrew, a twist that stands out most on fresh green growth and turns strikingly sculptural once the bare branches are stripped for winter.
Golden Weeping Willow (Salix × sepulcralis 'Chrysocoma')
A vigorous hybrid whose long weeping branches glow a bright golden-yellow, lit against the bare winter wood.
Aurea
A selection grown for the warm golden cast that colors its young stems.
How to propagate
The willow takes root with striking ease, and a single tree will give rise to many young plants from a cut stem or a low branch pressed to the soil.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Late winter to early spring (hardwood) or summer (softwood) · Several weeks to root; rapid establishment thereafter
Few trees strike root as readily as willow. A hardwood cutting taken in late winter or early spring, or a softwood one in summer, roots within a few weeks, and even a bare, leafless length pushed into wet soil will sprout roots before shooting up fast. This is the usual way a new tree is raised.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · One season
A low, trailing branch roots itself where it lies. Pinned to moist ground from spring through summer, it sends roots down at the point of contact and stands as a new plant within a single season.
Myths
Weeping willow is poisonous to dogs and cats and must be kept from pets.
Willows are absent from the ASPCA toxic-plant lists, and the closely related purpleosier willow is listed as non-toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. The real dangers lie in the reaching roots and the brittle wood, not in poison. The bark does hold salicylates, the natural aspirin compound, so it should not be eaten in quantity.
Weeping willows are tough, long-lived shade trees that fit a small yard.
They put on fast growth but live briefly and demand constant tending. The wood stays brittle and the roots push hard toward water, forcing into drains and sewers and heaving pavement, which leaves the tree ill-suited to a tight or built-up plot.