Upside down corkscrew willows

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Since I have way too many corkscrew willows and I like to tinker. I’ve planted a couple of these guys upside down to promote upward growth so when the tree is flipped over it will be weeping. I tried it last year with a small cutting so I’m thinking it could work, but who knows. I guess I’ll find out and post results here.
This is the first victim.

After 7 days the shoots are turned upward

I’ve got a couple more to plant this way. More the merrier.

 

[nuttiest]

Well this one you could have done just 90 degrees!

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Well this one you could have done just 90 degrees!

Probably, but it’s funner to go all the way. Lol

 

[HorseloverFat]

Love it!!

Salix are among my favorite... Just gotta know how to treat them, and they "buck" all the negative stigma.

 

[HorseloverFat]

(just remember.. roots don't prefer to go upwards, so you could leave a cushion or buffer zone of soil, so the roots have a way they will enjoy growing ... ORRR do one REALLY wide and flat... Don't give the roots a choice! )

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

I really like these since I have a large one in the front yard so I have an unlimited supply of material. I can also water the hell out of them and do ridiculous amount of root work every year. One tree I repotted 3 times last year. Pot too small, roots grow too fast.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Got long so I trimmed it.

Hopefully get more ramification, then have to decide when to flip it into another pot for the winter. I did that too early last year, September I think. It grew 5” more but straight up. I’m thinking October, but I’ll do it when it feels right.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

This one has a friend, but I started it 2 weeks later.
Tree lesson 753: if you’re going to plant it upside down, do it before you have too much upward growth. Otherwise you get dumb loops at the base of the growth.
Oh well, next year. Lol

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

Alrighty!!! So I died and came back to life, kind of like a lot of my trees. Hahahahahaha
Anyway, now that I’m back, update on these things. Didn’t flip them until almost December last year, they just kept pushing growth. Here they are today, thought about doing the flip today, but they were frozen in the pots.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

If you ever grow corkscrew willow, just a warning. If you are trying to thicken a lower branch, you must do it slowly. If you let it run too long, the tree will kill everything above that limb. Just an fyi, lots of mine did that this past year.

 

[Colorado]

This is very interesting and creative….cool!

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

This is very interesting and creative….cool!

Thank you! I like to experiment and do weird stuff. Lol

 

[Underdog]

I tried something similar but, your's look great. Good job.

Underdogs corkscrew willow (Salix matsudana) winter games

Ugly old stump I rooted in water spring of 16. Lots of room for improvement here for the purpose of this contest. I was really just curious how large a branch I could get to root in water.

www.bonsainut.com

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

I tried something similar but, your's look great. Good job.

View attachment 532309

Underdogs corkscrew willow (Salix matsudana) winter games

Ugly old stump I rooted in water spring of 16. Lots of room for improvement here for the purpose of this contest. I was really just curious how large a branch I could get to root in water.

www.bonsainut.com

Thank you, I’m liking the thickness of yours. I’m currently trying to workout how to suspend a 6” thick cutting I made last year. There’s a lot of weight hanging completely upside down with that one. Won’t be able to do it the same way. I’ll post pics once I get it worked out.

 

[Dysfunctional Vet]

So here’s a bigger one, not the biggest but a start. A little wiring to get the branches headed the right way and then growth will always go up.