Dappled Willow Progress?

[Spiider]

Hi - Anyone have any progress pictures of how their Dappled Willows are doing? I'll take some pics of mine this week. I planted them in the Spring of 2013 as 12" cuttings (in lumite like material). They are now roughly 6' tall and 4-5' wide average. I never did any pruning or cut them back. I kept them sprayed with Deer Stopper Concentrate the 1st 2 years, roughly once every 2 months in the Spring/Summer/Fall. Most look great, a few are weak, and another few get munched on.

Wondering how anybody else's are looking?

 

[bueller]

I planted mine last spring so they haven't awoken from their first winter dormancy yet.

 

[Bill]

I planted some in 2014 through lumite. Last summer they hit about the 2 foot range. I hope to have 6 foot like you do after this season.

 

[Spiider]

I went out and snapped a few pics tonight. I was a little off on many of them. The shortest I have are probably 4' tall. The tallest I have are around 9' tall. Almost all of them that are over 6' tall are rubbed on!

I had read somewhere that the best time to cut them back to make them thicker was the 1st year. Has anyone tried cutting these back at all to promote more vigourous growth after 3 years of growth? Think it would be worth my trying to cut back the ends on a few to see what happens? I'd love for these to form a nice thick wall, as part of several rows of different types of screeening for both short and long term. I've got 2, 300' rows of these in the ground cover that John sells at BigRockTrees to screen both a road and then a neighbor.

That's my black hat for reference in the pics.

 

[bueller]

What's the spacing on those? Looks to me like once leafed out they will have a nice screen formed.

 

[Spiider]

What's the spacing on those? Looks to me like once leafed out they will have a nice screen formed.

I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure I spaced them out around 4-6'. Agreed, they aren't bad, by any means, but I always want more :) I'll take more picks after they leaf out.

 

[bueller]

Maybe experiment a little and cut back every other one in a 50' section to see what happens. I'd bet they come back thicker.

 

[bcbowman]

Spider, I've cut several over 3 years old right down to the ground when dormant and they come back with a ton of shoots off the stump and they will be over 5 ft high halfway through the summer

 

[Spiider]

Spider, I've cut several over 3 years old right down to the ground when dormant and they come back with a ton of shoots off the stump and they will be over 5 ft high halfway through the summer

Very good to hear, thanks for posting! So is that what you would recommend, cutting them off at/near ground level?
I've read that if you want to keep them looking "pretty" and pruned to cut off the oldest growth, but I want the opposite :) In that case should I leave some of the older growth?
Maybe I should just try some varying methods?

 

[bcbowman]

If you want them as thick as possible I'd cut them a few inches off the ground and they will come back with a vengeance. If you want spots a little more open for deer to duck through, etc. either cut them higher or not at all. Another good option if planted in a row might be to cut every other one

 

[bueller]

This thread has me really excited about the dappled willows I planted last spring. They are in black plastic. I hope they take off this year. I ordered some more to replace the ones that didn't "wake" up after planting last year.

 

[Spiider]

If you want them as thick as possible I'd cut them a few inches off the ground and they will come back with a vengeance. If you want spots a little more open for deer to duck through, etc. either cut them higher or not at all. Another good option if planted in a row might be to cut every other one

I'm going to do the every other one option a try. Thanks for the reinforcement of the plan.