A little willow.

This is a little willow i have . I want to sort out the top in the spring as the top section is too thick and straight.

A very sweet little tree Smithy. Develop a nice rounded top, job done! Good to see you've got the posting bug now.. Whose pot is it?

By the way, you look so different without the leaves!!

will baddeley wrote:By the way, you look so different without the leaves!!

and i had a shave.

I remember you looked different without your wooden glasses

will baddeley wrote:A very sweet little tree Smithy. Develop a nice rounded top, job done! Good to see you've got the posting bug now.. Whose pot is it?

Thanks, i'm not sure who made the pot ,i got it off ebay off an individual. There is no mark on the bottom.

Is that a Salix boydii Smithy? If so, how does it do in a Welsh winter? I struggle to keep them up here and we are in a sheltered part of the country. Someone once said it was more to do with the wet than the cold but I was of the impression Salix were pretty water tolerant in general. Anyone know differently?

btw Agree with Will about the leaves

I remember a couple of years ago, Simon Temblett, wrote a very good article in Bonsai Focus, on Weeping Willow. Under "normal" watering conditions for bonsai, his Willow was always, sickly, slow to put on growth and suffered with dieback. He experimented with a drip feed system, which consisted of, an elevated bucket, with either capillary matting or a pipe with a regulator. The bucket had a feed in it, all the time. The Willow flourished with this treatment.

Hmmm. Water loving you would expect from a Weeping Willow. Boydii is a different animal tho' in my experience - much slower growing and usually found in rockier areas. From that latter point I am assuming they prefer a more free-draining soil, and using such has certainly been the only way I've been able to keep any of mine.

Interestingly, although it's supposed to be common in the upper regions of Scotland, I had to go elsewhere to buy my Salix boydii.

Yep, you've guessed it - Wales. Aberconwy to be precise.

Will, you are spot on in regard to Simon's weeping willow, he creates a realy good image with his innovative techniques, like the plasticene "weights" to encourage weeping and the other experiments he has conducted over the years. These truly add to the knowledge. However, this one looks like S caprea - Goat Willow to me and this is a very coarse growing variety, requiring different techniques. S boydii is a completely different one again. Favoured by Alpine growers, originating from Scotland but requiring damp and good drainage.

Again, I'm not getting a clear idea of scale from the original pic (which Smithy described as a small tree), but I had in mind that the leaves were too small to be caprea. I'm going to have another closer look now though.

Smithy?




btw thanks, Kev, for confirming my suspicion that boydii needs a free-draining soil mix. It was an alpine nursery I got mine at. A good day out in Wales all round as I went to visit some Welsh dude or another at the same time.

I'm guessing that the image is close to life size, from the wires and the growth rings in the slab.

Boydii is a much trickier willow than many others, in my experience.

The other Welsh dude was pleased to meet and make a connection with a fellow enthusiast.

Kev. Good to see the Welsh are progressing , with words like dude...... As many vowels as consonants....A huge step forward!!

Whats wrong with Welsh spelling? Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is a perfect balance of vowels and consonants IMHO.

Did you know that Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com[/b] is the longest single word (without hyphens) .com domain name in the world?

fiona wrote:Hmmm. Water loving you would expect from a Weeping Willow. Boydii is a different animal tho' in my experience - much slower growing and usually found in rockier areas. From that latter point I am assuming they prefer a more free-draining soil, and using such has certainly been the only way I've been able to keep any of mine.

I have three Willows as Mame-bonsai, and all very tolerant to watering situations. My experience is to use a low draining soil like dried peat moss (that have a good air volume too), with only a little drainage layer at the bottom of the pot. That run the business for me.

Regards
Morten

Kev was right and it is a S caprea - Goat Willow . It is 16cms high.

Is Goat Willow the same as Pussy Willow?

I was looking it up last night and it seems so. We may got something different back.

Here is what this one looks like today.

Howzit Smithy,
Nice tree..... Like the way the trunk moves. Do you know if this can grow in Maui?

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Goat willow is Salix caprea. The term pussy willow is applied to several different species. In this country, it is Salix discolor, often called "French pussy willow."
Goat willow is naturalized as far south as Alabama, so it might be worth trying in Hawaii, although it might be susceptible to a number of diseases.

Looking good Smithy. The only thing I would adjust is the first branch on the right. Its too straight, when the rest of the tree is full of movement.

bonsaisr wrote:Goat willow is Salix caprea. The term pussy willow is applied to several different species. In this country, it is Salix discolor, often called "French pussy willow."
Goat willow is naturalized as far south as Alabama, so it might be worth trying in Hawaii, although it might be susceptible to a number of diseases.

Mahalo Bonsaisr,
What type of disease?

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Hawaiian77 wrote:Howzit Smithy,
Nice tree..... ThumbsUp: Like the way the trunk moves. Do you know if this can grow in Maui?

A Hui Hou,
-Tim

Thanks Tim.

will baddeley wrote:Looking good Smithy. The only thing I would adjust is the first branch on the right. Its too straight, when the rest of the tree is full of movement.

Thanks Will. Yes your right about that branch.