Weeping Pussy Willow

Easy, Elegant Weeping Pussy Willow

Whether it’s framing the entranceway of your Japanese garden, adjacent to your favorite garden bench, or a standout piece on its own, the Weeping Pussy Willow doesn’t disappoint. It’s easy to care for, does well in overly wet soil, and makes for beautiful clippings.

You can maintain and grow this compact variety anywhere in the garden with ease. Reaching up to 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide, your Weeping Pussy Willow can grow within partial shade conditions and in overly wet soil – typically a deal breaker for fussier plants!

Because it favors moist soil, it’ll do exceptionally well by your water fixture, man-made pond, or backyard creek. You can grow your Weeping Pussy Willow in any of these areas to add color and texture to an otherwise hard-to-plant landscape.

The best part? Its soft white catkins provide a sleek ornamental display in any landscape. As part of any pruning you’re already doing, clippings can be brought into the home as elegant decor. With its tall, slender branches ending in fuzzy catkins, it seamlessly blends with any style when placed in a large vase.

And when the Weeping Pussy Willow isn’t blooming in late winter to early spring, it’ll still display lovely green leaves for year-round interest. Add the Weeping Pussy Willow to your collection today for easy versatility, color and texture!

Planting & Care

1. Planting: Creek beds or pond-accenting spots are favored, but as long as you irrigate properly and ensure the proper sun exposure, your Willow can thrive anywhere.

Dig a hole three times the width and just as deep as the root ball of your tree. Then remove any debris like rocks, grass or soil clumps from the hole and use a shovel or a pitchfork to loosen the soil around the sides of the hole. Position your tree and make sure that the root collar (the area where the roots meet the trunk of the tree) is level with the surrounding soil. Next, gently backfill the soil and tamp it down as you go. After this process is complete, give your tree a long drink of water until the soil becomes evenly moist. Finally, spread a layer of mulch that’s about three inches thick around the base of your tree.

2. Watering: Your Willow will need a deep watering roughly 2-3 times weekly (depending on the weather) to keep the soil consistently moist. Mulching really helps with retaining soil moisture so you will not have to monitor as often. A good method is to leave your garden hose next to the base of the tree on a slow trickle for about 10 minutes once weekly.

3. Fertilizing: Feed once yearly in the fall season after it’s become established (about 2 years after planting). Use an all-purpose fertilizer.

4. Pruning: Prune back new shoots right to the main trunk and remove some of the older main branches in spring. Pruning isn’t necessary, but you’ll get a neater, cleaner form by removing these older branches and shoots.