Willow cuttings

eryk2kartman

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Hi All,

I have a quick question,
On our garden border with next door neighbor there are some willows growing, they are on the neighbor side,
They really overgrown so i asked if i can prune them around head height and i got go ahead with it.
Some of the trunks are quite thick, i wouldn't mind to save them for bonsai. I know its late in the year and spring is way better to do it but is there any way to keep them somehow through the winter? i know some Hard cuttings can survive the winter and can be planted in the spring.
The trees lost 99% of their leaves now.

Any ideas how to do it?
I can plant them in the ground now but im not sure if thats a good idea.
 

Woocash

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Hi All,

I have a quick question,
On our garden border with next door neighbor there are some willows growing, they are on the neighbor side,
They really overgrown so i asked if i can prune them around head height and i got go ahead with it.
Some of the trunks are quite thick, i wouldn't mind to save them for bonsai. I know its late in the year and spring is way better to do it but is there any way to keep them somehow through the winter? i know some Hard cuttings can survive the winter and can be planted in the spring.
The trees lost 99% of their leaves now.

Any ideas how to do it?
I can plant them in the ground now but im not sure if thats a good idea.
I reckon if you just left them in a bucket of water they’d keep til spring. Or very wet compost. They’d probably even send out roots before then too. Just don’t let them dry out.
 

Pitoon

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Hi All,

I have a quick question,
On our garden border with next door neighbor there are some willows growing, they are on the neighbor side,
They really overgrown so i asked if i can prune them around head height and i got go ahead with it.
Some of the trunks are quite thick, i wouldn't mind to save them for bonsai. I know its late in the year and spring is way better to do it but is there any way to keep them somehow through the winter? i know some Hard cuttings can survive the winter and can be planted in the spring.
The trees lost 99% of their leaves now.

Any ideas how to do it?
I can plant them in the ground now but im not sure if thats a good idea.
Willows will root in water.
 

eryk2kartman

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Thanks for replies, i know they are easy to root and either water or soil but my questions is more - would they survive the winter if i simply stick them into the ground or should i do something special to keep them dormant to plant them in the spring.
 

Pitoon

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Thanks for replies, i know they are easy to root and either water or soil but my questions is more - would they survive the winter if i simply stick them into the ground or should i do something special to keep them dormant to plant them in the spring.
Keep it from freezing, store it in a garage or basement. You can even just save cuttings in moist sand in the fridge, then plant after the last frost passes in your location.
 

Pitoon

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Keep it from freezing, store it in a garage or basement. You can even just save cuttings in moist sand in the fridge, then plant after the last frost passes in your location.
Thanks for replies, i know they are easy to root and either water or soil but my questions is more - would they survive the winter if i simply stick them into the ground or should i do something special to keep them dormant to plant them in the spring.

If you save cuttings just remember what side goes in the dirt. If you cut both ends flat 90 degree cut you can forget which side goes down. Cut bottom end 90 (goes into dirt) and the top end 45 so you won't get confused.
 

eryk2kartman

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hmm, i dont have much options here, i can put them in unheated greenhouse - but its get quite warm when sun is shining or maybe garden shed or i can bring them into the house.

Good point with angle cutting tops, cheers

I will trim the trees this weekend and i will see how many i would get, i might do some experiment and plant some in the ground, some in the shed and so on :)
 

Pitoon

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hmm, i dont have much options here, i can put them in unheated greenhouse - but its get quite warm when sun is shining or maybe garden shed or i can bring them into the house.

Good point with angle cutting tops, cheers

I will trim the trees this weekend and i will see how many i would get, i might do some experiment and plant some in the ground, some in the shed and so on :)
I think your best bet would be to store the cuttings in the fridge similar to any fruit hardwood cutting till spring. They should begin to callous over while in storage and be easier to push out roots when you plant in spring. If you try different options post your results here.
 

eryk2kartman

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I think your best bet would be to store the cuttings in the fridge similar to any fruit hardwood cutting till spring. They should begin to callous over while in storage and be easier to push out roots when you plant in spring. If you try different options post your results here.
Heheh, you should talk to my wife about the fridge :) i think seed stratification was over the edge already :)
I will try probably couple of things, there will be a lot of cutting,
I might seal the tops just in case,
I got some hardwood cuttings before and they were sealed with wax, is that a good idea ? both ends were sealed with wax.
 

Pitoon

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Heheh, you should talk to my wife about the fridge :) i think seed stratification was over the edge already :)
I will try probably couple of things, there will be a lot of cutting,
I might seal the tops just in case,
I got some hardwood cuttings before and they were sealed with wax, is that a good idea ? both ends were sealed with wax.
Get yourself a small dorm fridge. You can seal the top end with wax to prevent desiccation, bottom end needs to callous to give off the roots or you can seal both ends store in the fridge and in spring cut the bottom end to remove the wax and then plant. The point is that you need to keep the cutting alive through winter, not so much as to getting it to root now.

Why not just prune in spring and you won't have to deal with any of this?
 

Gene Deci

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I reckon if you just left them in a bucket of water they’d keep til spring. Or very wet compost. They’d probably even send out roots before then too. Just don’t let them dry out.
Just like Woocash says, put them in a bucket of water until next spring. Leave it out and it will freeze solid which does no harm. I've done that in Northern Michigan twice.
 

eryk2kartman

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Just like Woocash says, put them in a bucket of water until next spring. Leave it out and it will freeze solid which does no harm. I've done that in Northern Michigan twice.
Nice one!
I will defo try that.
 

eryk2kartman

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the guys who own them are a bit tricky to deal with so i rather do it when they agreed to if you know what im saying.
 

Shibui

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Down here we just poke the end of a willow branch in the soil and step back quick. Most should root even if you plant them now. Even 2m tall sticks can root and grow. It is actually good for many hardwood cuttings to sit over winter. The lower end produces callus slowly and is ready to root when the weather warms up. The only problem is if the sticks above ground dry out before they root. One way to avoid that is to cut foot long sections, tie in a bundle and bury them completely - horizontal is OK - Just make sure you mark the spot well and remember to dig them in spring and plant right side up so they can grow.
 

eryk2kartman

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Thanks for all the replies guys,
Im not worry of tops getting dry, i will seal them and they will be in very sheltered spot, nearly no wind, no sun, so after reading all comments i think i might get some success with them. I will post photos once all is cut and i have material to work with.
Cheers
 

Mikecheck123

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Thanks for replies, i know they are easy to root and either water or soil but my questions is more - would they survive the winter if i simply stick them into the ground or should i do something special to keep them dormant to plant them in the spring.
What's the rush? Willow cuttings will do much better in warm weather. The only ones I've ever seen fail were taken when it was too cold.
 
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