Willow stick in a pot

[Cattwooduk]

Right so this I guess is my first actual stick I can say is anything remotely bonsai, or at least a start point.
It's not much (at all) but I'm just happy it survived and made it into a training pot. Last summer I cut a branch from a tree my granddad planted years ago, left it in a bucket of water to root and then potted it up, left it over winter. Half of the top died back so it was left with 3 feeble little shoots. Last year in the bucket it grew crazy amounts of shoots, but willow grows kinda crazy which is partly why I decided it would be a good freebie experiment.

Anyway I noticed it started popping buds so thought it would be a good place to start my first ever repotting.
I didn't need to wire the 3 shoots at all but I started playing as I don't have anything else to do yet with any other material!

It looks like the bottom cut is callusing over fine, and it had grown so many fine roots I felt ok cutting back about 1/3 and taking off some of the ones growing higher up the trunk since there is basically nothing to support at the other end of the stick. It has a couple of bits which haven't thrown out any roots but I'm guessing this is fine as there are so many around the rest of it.
No idea what my plan is yet, there's nothing to it at the moment so I'll leave it and see how much growth it throws out and it might actually give me some options!

 

[AlainK]

To me, the lines are much too straight. Straight trunk, straight branch, then twisted twigs? Doesn't look natural.

I would cut it just below the first branch to make a new cutting.

 

[Cattwooduk]

Yeah I know I don't like the dead straight lines it looks like a handle from something! I was thinking I might wait for a few more buds to pop up and then hack the top off again as you suggested.

 

[Cattwooduk]

Can I get away with just hacking the top off now or should I wait for some more shoots to appear lower down first? Just wondering if cutting the top off straight after root pruning will mean it's low on energy now and have a hard time throwing out new growth.

 

[sorce]

You wanna hear my willow tale?

Dug one, cut the roots back, they died to make new ones...ugly, tossed it. Happy.

If I were ever to do it again...

I'd root a ready made tree off a tree.

Sorce

 

[Cattwooduk]

So cut back a branch and let it re-shoot new growth then snip that branch off with top growth, into a bucket to grow roots and use that as a start point? Not sure what you mean by root a tree off a tree!

The tree my grandad put in is pretty big so there is a silly amount of potential raw material for me to get my hands on.

 

[sorce]

tree off a tree!

Find or train a section with bark, branching, then layer it, or just lop it and root it again!

No sense waiting with trees that root mad easy.....especially when you have access.

Sorce

 

[petegreg]

Willow cuttings are easy to root. We can use one much thicker and with much better bark...
As you've experienced some branch die back, it's very common and willows are notoriously known for this.
Only thing we can do is leaving more branches than we need, you know, what if...

 

[Cattwooduk]

Cool that makes sense. Since the tree is just starting to shoot I'll get back asap and mark out some possible pieces to cut when it's leafed out more, I figure that's the best time to cut and bucket.
When you say a piece with bark and branching- I've found that any parts old enough to have some nice gnarled bark don't have many branches close together. I'll take pictures next time and might need some help identifying some potential chunks to lop off.

 

[petegreg]

Cool that makes sense. Since the tree is just starting to shoot I'll get back asap and mark out some possible pieces to cut when it's leafed out more, I figure that's the best time to cut and bucket.
When you say a piece with bark and branching- I've found that any parts old enough to have some nice gnarled bark don't have many branches close together. I'll take pictures next time and might need some help identifying some potential chunks to lop off.

Willow can sprout out from veeery old wood.

 

[Cattwooduk]

Willow can sprout out from veeery old wood.

Cool good to know, I'll find a nice fat log to chop out with some good movement and then bucket it for a few months
At least I know how easy it is now I've got my crappy stick in a pot successfully. Guess I'll take it to the @sorce burnpile!

 

[Victorim]

Interesting. A good few willows wild around.. will scout for a nice branch or two. And you rooted it just in water?

 

[Cattwooduk]

Interesting. A good few willows wild around.. will scout for a nice branch or two. And you rooted it just in water?

Yup, literally just cut off a section and plop it in a bucket of rain water, I found that's the quickest way to get roots. Within a couple of weeks I had LOTS of roots even on some pretty fat sections. The ones I lost were due to not paying enough attention to keeping them watered once I potted them in soil, they need a lot of water. Hardest part is identifying a suitable section to cut off apparently lol - avoid walking sticks.

 

[Victorim]

Yup, literally just cut off a section and plop it in a bucket of rain water, I found that's the quickest way to get roots. Within a couple of weeks I had LOTS of roots even on some pretty fat sections. The ones I lost were due to not paying enough attention to keeping them watered once I potted them in soil, they need a lot of water. Hardest part is identifying a suitable section to cut off apparently lol - avoid walking sticks.

Walking sticks? How'd you mean?

 

[sorce]

I'll take it to the @sorce burnpile!

Yeah!

I'd look for a six inch, sorry, 20cm branch that broke off a while back and has grown a new 10cm branch off in another direction.
Movement and taper. At least a couple segments.

Thing is, you may have to go up the tree.

That is my mission.

Skylayers.

Sorce

 

[Victorim]

I grab a couple of pics on my way to work tomorrow...

 

[Cattwooduk]

Yeah!

I'd look for a six inch, sorry, 20cm branch that broke off a while back and has grown a new 10cm branch off in another direction.
Movement and taper. At least a couple segments.

Thing is, you may have to go up the tree.

That is my mission.

Skylayers.

Sorce

I had to climb the tree to get the last lot of cuttings I took and it's not the easiest tree to climb either but makes it more fun! I don't think I'd be able to do any layers up the tree without a ladder, and getting a ladder to the tree would be a massive mission where it is.
Sounds like a plan, I'll see what I can find which might fit the ideal.

Walking sticks? How'd you mean?

Sorry I meant avoiding straight sections like the plank I posted above with no taper or shape... like a walking stick!

 

[Victorim]

Sorry I meant avoiding straight sections like the plank I posted above with no taper or shape... like a walking stick!

Ah

 

[sorce]

I had to climb the tree to get the last lot of cuttings I took and it's not the easiest tree to climb either but makes it more fun! I don't think I'd be able to do any layers up the tree without a ladder, and getting a ladder to the tree would be a massive mission where it is.
Sounds like a plan, I'll see what I can find which might fit the ideal.



Sorry I meant avoiding straight sections like the plank I posted above with no taper or shape... like a walking stick!

Just be careful!

Them winds didn't blow any new stuff down for you?

Sorce

 

[Cattwooduk]

I didn't get a chance to look today, I went in specifically to have a look at the silver birch tree I knew was there at the top of the hill. The woods out back extend down a steep hill and into the marshy meadow. The Willow tree is planted on the edge of the woods where the field begins. It was once in the middle of a big pond my granddad dug out being fed by the stream running through the field, but the waterway seems to have gone underground unless we get a lot of rain and then the pond fills up a little bit. At the moment it's just soggy under foot, which helps if I end up falling out the tree haha. I've never fallen out a tree yet though. Yet.

Hoping to get back over there as soon as I can to find material. I would live in those woods if I could! Many memories throughout my life of running around the woods there, messing around in the stream. It's full of gnarly old dead wood and old tree trunks. I managed to pull a couple up the hill last year and hollowed out some sections to plant trailing plants in for garden features that look more natural. Hard part is getting the damn things up the hill through the undergrowth!
Plenty of nice old dead stumps and trunks which would probably make good bonsai material but at the moment I wouldn't have a clue where to start. Noticed a cool example in a thread on here yesterday but I think I'll wait before I attempt anything like that.