willow help needed

hi there

i no this is proberly not the right place to post this question but i am really struggling to get help !
i have a willow in my garden we planted from a stick we recieved in a bunch of flowers when my first was born around 10years ago it is now around 6m high it is the twisted branch form of willow.

over the winter we noticed some branches dieing but thought nothing of it ,then when it began to sprout we noticed alot of the leaves started browning and the die back increased i cut out what i could and sprayed once about 3weeks ago with bordeuxe mix. The browning leaves have now increase to i have studied the branches and found black cankers again have read as much as i can find on black cankers and willow scab. but the tree is getting worse,

the tree has sentimental value to us and i would really like to save it ,should i cut it back hard taking all growth of the tree in the hope this will remove the infection ?

also am going to spay again tonight with a stronger bordeux mixture will this help?

any advice is welcome and again hope it is ok to post this here

thankyou very much in advance

Of course it's all right to post here. We all love trees on this site.

My alma mater says:

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/cankdispoplar/cankdispoplar.htm

And frankly, that's the best you can do. Willows are weak trees, but they are also enthusiastic sprouters, so if you keep it well watered and well fertilized, it may fix itself.

Willows are also the easiest tree in the world to take cuttings from. You should take a bunch. If you want something bigger, try some air-layers. Since willows also grow quickly, you'll be able to replace the tree fairly quickly with itself.

thankyou very much for the reply.

i will take some cuttings this weekend just in case we lose the tree,

am still considering choping the tree to a more managable size in the hope this will promote back budding

although all backbudding i have seen so far has git to around 5" then blackend but i will keep trying

thanyou again

There's a reason so may old willows are hollow in the center. They get sick easily. But many of them seem to survive.