Willow Air Prune

LordHill

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I bought a weeping pussy willow from meijer. It has a long straight trunk, and then a cool looking top has been grafted onto it.

I want to discard the trunk and keep the top. So, I thought air prune it... Then it occured to me that air pruning might not work on a willow... I've included a picture and circled the spot where it is grafted.. Now my question is how can I salvage the top and lose the bottom?
 

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Wires_Guy_wires

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Air pruning is using a bunch of air to prune off foliage. That's less ideal if you want to keep parts of the plant ;-)

You're probably thinking about air layering. That can be done with willows with relative ease. They also root pretty easily from cuttings, just stick a branch into a bottle of water and leave it for a couple of weeks. Make sure to change the water every four days or so.
 

LordHill

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Awesome, thank you.. Yes, air pruning is what I meant
 

AJL

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Dont you mean air layering ?!!This is a grafted Kilmarnock willow Salix caprea Kilmarnock.
They are a prostrate , creeping clone which are grafted (topworked)onto a straight vigorous rooted stem/ willow rootstock of another species because Salix caprea is on of the few willows which are difficult to root from cuttings , so its also likely to be hard to airlayer- but you can always try!!
 

LordHill

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I am trying to air layer it a bit above the graft. If it works, it's a win, if it doesnt, it's a learning experience and I will go down the road a bit and take a cutting from a willow.
 
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