The Valuable Willow

Virtues of an under-appreciated tree family

As "yard trees", willows doesn't get much respect from me. They tend to have:
   (1) brittle branches that break easily in high winds or icy conditions,
   (2) water-seeking roots that will clog sewer lines, and
   (3) short lives.

I'm generalizing about the 75+ species of North American willows here, but those attributes should make any sensible homeowner wonder about the wisdom of planting a willow near his house!

Black Willow, Salix nigra. Morton Arboretum
Wikimedia image by Bruce Marlin
  

Salix nigra catkins
Wikimedia image by SB Johnny.

Nonetheless, willows (Salix spp.) have their good side, especially when kept where God intended them to grow. Many of our North America willows occur naturally in wetlands and on stream margins.  There, a dense mat of willow roots is a good thing. It can reduce erosion and help control floods.

Willows are often a pioneer species -- the first woody plant to take root and grow in a formerly barren area. They are  useful in land reclamation projects, such as land that has been strip mined, old industrial sites, etc. (Willows can be invasive, however, so get advice from your local university extension office before mass-planting them.)

Wherever willows grow, they provide habitat and food to wildlife. They have helped to feed and shelter people too! Historically, young, tender willow buds, twigs, and leaves were a food of some of the indigenous people of Canada and Alaska. And willow, though a soft, weak wood, has served many building purposes when better wood was unavailable. Basket weavers have used the long, supple, young twigs of willow for centuries. Bent-wood furniture making, another time-honored craft, also uses willow branches.

Willow bark contains salicin, a mild analgesic.  It is an ancient remedy, a forefather to aspirin as we know it today. Hippocrates wrote about willow bark tea several centuries before the birth of Christ. Many of the Indian tribes of our continent used bark, leaves, roots, and sap from native willows as medicinal remedies. The European settlers were also familiar with the benefits of willow teas and powders.

Nowadays, most of us buy manufactured pain pills, but willow-bark tea is still an effective, though slower-acting, pain reliever. Many recipes for making it can be found online. If you decide to try it, you'll have to collect some willow bark. Remember not to girdle (cut a strip all the way around) the willow's trunk, or you'll kill it. And remember all the usual cautions about aspirin consumption.

Willows also contain high levels of a plant growth hormone called auxin. You can buy powdered auxin to stimulate the growth of roots on hard-to-propagate cuttings. Or, you can make auxin-rich willow water by boiling small pieces of willow twigs. One method is to stand the cuttings in room-temperature willow water for 24 to 48 hours, and then plant them. Dampen the medium or soil with willow-water after planting, and follow up with more willow-water whenever dry.

With all that auxin flowing through their systems, willows are notable -- notorious! -- for fast growth. That makes them an excellent source of biomass for energy production. Scientists are also looking at some of the willow species for bio-engineering.  Their fast growth and prodigious intake of water may make them good candidates for cleaning up certain industrial contaminants.

Willows are unique and useful plants (despite a few bad traits). They deserve our respect, affection, and appreciation!

Ten trees that tolerate flooding

Native trees that thrive in wetlands

Do you need trees for a swampy area where water sometimes stands for several weeks at a time? Perhaps you are looking for trees that will thrive at a pond's edge or a stream margin where the water level fluctuates with the rainfall.

Here are ten native trees that tolerate standing in water for extended periods of time. These are native trees often found growing in wetlands in various parts of the continental United States. Linked names lead to the USDA Plants database, which contains a great deal of information about each species.

Alnus serrulata -- Smooth Alder (Hazel Alder)
Betula populifolia -- Gray Birch
Fraxinus nigra -- Black Ash
Larix laricina -- Eastern Larch (Tamarack)
Picea mariana -- Black Spruce
Salix amygdaloides -- Peachleaf Willow
Salix bebbiana -- Bebb Willow
Salix discolor -- Pussy Willow
Salix nigra -- Black Willow
Taxodium distichum -- Baldcypress

These ten aren't the only wetland trees. There are many willow species, for example. However, I hope the tree names in this list will provide a starting point for your research.

Weeping willows damaged by ice

Weak wooded trees with a weak structure

I've written previously in this blog about how I love weeping willow trees and how I planted two of them for sentimental reasons, even though I knew better. (See "Weeping willow, a weak-wooded tree" and "One tree not to plant"

I planted them about a dozen years ago. They grew fast, and they were beautiful for a few years. However, they've created a problem in nearly every episode of extreme weather we've experienced.

The devastating ice storm that hit Kentucky a few days ago was particularly hard on my weeping willows. I expect that we will cut them down and spray any sprouts with Roundup. I've had the experience of owning weeping willows now, and it wasn't nearly as pleasant as I thought it would be. I don't want to repeat it.

The tree in front of them -- the undamaged one -- is a black walnut that was planted at about the same time.

More photos of the ice damage to our trees

What Trees Do Beavers Prefer?

Popular trees on the beaver's menu

The passage about Teddy Roosevelt's "beavered-down" trees aroused my curiosity about beavers. I've read several dozen webpages this evening, trying to learn exactly what trees they prefer.

I've read about beavers chewing down white cedars and cherry trees in Washington D.C., elm, cottonwood, hackberry and maple in Tennessee, and willow, maple, birch, aspen, cottonwood, beech, poplar, and alder trees in New Hampshire. In Colorado, willow, aspen and cottonwood are mentioned again.

On several sites, I read that beavers prefer to cut down soft-wooded trees which enables harder-wooded species like oaks and hickories to get more sunshine and flourish. However, Bob Arnebeck provides images of oak trees taken down by beavers, so I wonder if that theory holds true.

American Wildlife and Plants by Martin, Zim, and Nelson (full citation at bottom of the page) cites the following trees as used by beaver in various parts of the U.S.:  poplar (cottonwoods and aspens), willow, birch, hazelnut, serviceberry, maple, alder, ash, sweetgum, pine, dogwood, oak, sycamore, redcedar, and Douglasfir.

According to Martin, et al, poplar trees are especially important to the beaver's diet in the Northeast U.S. and in the West, and sweetgum makes up a significant portion of their diet in the Southeast.

I can testify from personal knowledge and observation that beavers in the Nebraska Sandhills thrive in little streams with willows on the banks.

Why do beavers cut down trees? They eat the bark and wood, as well as using the branches in their dams and lodges.

Photo of the "beavered-down" tree courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Weeping willow, a weak-wooded tree

One problem after another with weeping willows

One of the first articles I wrote for this blog was titled, "One tree not to plant!" I confessed that I had planted two weeping willow trees, even though I had read plenty of cautions about the headaches the tree can cause for homeowners. And sure enough, one of the trees has been a big problem and is no doubt going to die soon.

Consider this a postscript to that story. A few days ago, we had a prolonged and very strong wind and thunderstorm, as the front edge of a cold front moved in. The next morning I went out to look at the trees. No major branches were broken in any of them except -- can you guess which one? -- the weeping willow that has already broken repeatedly.

A fairly big branch is dangling high up in the tree. I don't know how we'll get it down. Even with the pruning saw that's on the end of a pole, I think it will be out of reach.

I won't tell you not to plant a weeping willow, because I understand how you might love the look of the tree. But I will tell you this -- consider carefully whether you want to deal with broken branches again and again and again throughout the short life of this tree.

Speaking from my personal experience of being a longtime weeping willow lover and now an owner, the joy of seeing the tree in my yard hardly makes up for the problems it has created.

Technorati tags: weeping willow, problem trees, trees to avoid

One Tree Not to Plant

Weeping willows regretted

I have sentimental memories of a big yellow willow tree that I climbed as a child. Thus, when we got our little place in the country and I saw weeping willows advertised, it reminded me of the tree of my childhood and I decided that we should have a couple of them.

I knew that weeping willows are often listed as undesirable trees because they are prone to ice damage and because they like to run their roots into perforated drain pipes, but for some reason, I didn't think that my weeping willows would be that way.

I planted them in a part of our yard where water sometimes stands in wet weather, thinking they would help dry up the ground. The willows grew quickly there, and within five years, they were big, beautiful trees.

Then an ice storm took a huge bough out of one of them. My husband was gone to the war in Iraq at the time, so the kids and I had to clean it up and we finally finished with it by the end of summer. The next winter, another big limb came out of the same tree. This time, it was nearly half the tree. We finally got that mess cleaned up by the end of the next summer.

And I haven't even mentioned how the willows have their roots all over the top of the ground, making it very difficult to mow around them!

A few days ago, I was out in that part of the yard, and I noticed that the entire side of that same weeping willow tree is covered with shelf fungi. The presence of fungi means that the tree is dead in that area, of course. I expect that the entire tree will be dead in another year or two and then we'll have the problem of getting rid of it.

The other weeping willow is doing fine so far. But I wouldn't be surprised if it starts breaking apart at any time.

Update, July 27, 2013: Both weeping willows are still living despite repeated, extensive damage in storms.