I am planting about 50 Golden Willow cuttings along my fence line in an attempt to eventually block view of the huge, new three story homes behind.
I read a lot of confusing information about pruning these to help them grow how you want to, but it seems that the type of pruning would change on the goal. So, given that my goal is a very tall (over 20 foot) privacy hedge, how and when should I prune these as they grow? Should I, for example, leave a central trunk always, or cut it off in hopes that it generates multiple new branches for thickness? Should I thin out the growing tree after a couple of years to allow light to get to inner branches? Would that eventually make in thicker and a better privacy screen? Do I trim branch ends to hopefully promote the development of multiple new branches where the old one was pruned? This honestly seems like quite an art and I want to make sure I am doing my pruning in the best possible way to assure a high privacy hedge.
I am planting them in clumps of five cuttings (5 cuttings within about 1.5 square feet in a pattern like a 5 on a dice. These groups are spaced about every 4 feet along my fence line. (This is how the seller advised the initial planting).
Thanks so much for the help!
As trees, golden willows (Salix Alba var. vitellina) can reach a height of 1.8 – 21 metres (6-70 feet) with a spread of 1.8 – 15 metres (6-50 feet). So when grown as trees they should be planted several metres apart to give each tree space. However, if planted as a barrier or hedge, they can be planted much closer together, as you indicate.
I share your frustration in the lack of helpful information online about how to care for and prune the willow hedging. The best information I found is from a UK site that sells willow cuttings, Kings Barn Trees’ Living Willow Structures – Aftercare . This site provides only general advice, though – very little about pruning and few details. Several sites focus on how to shape the hedge. My most successful searches were those where I used the terms “willow hedge” or “willow hedge kits” then adding “pruning”. I found a Toronto gardening blog post, A living willow fence – it’s from 2011 but refers to The Living Wall, which seems to be quite a large company. You may wish to contact them for information. We generally don’t recommend any commercial sites for information, but I found nothing else in the literature.
I reached out to some of our members to see if we could answer the several questions you pose. One arborist is most familiar with the willows when grown as trees, and responded that they should not be topped (i.e., have their central leader removed) and notes that pruning back the ends of branches could increase the thickness. He would recommend that this type of hedge may need to be professionally pruned every year. He also indicated that in choosing willow for a privacy hedge, you should be aware that it will not provide privacy during the dormant season.
My suggestion is to contact an arborist who has worked with willow hedging to get good advice in advance of any issues that might arise – e.g., to confirm planting distances between cuttings and the best pruning techniques for the hedge. A site visit by the arborist is essential when undertaking such a large project such as this.
You mention that the seller gave you advice on how to plant the cuttings, perhaps that person would be able to assist you or could provide the name of an arborist who works with golden willows. As well, Landscape Ontario has an easily searchable site, it should be easy to find an arborist in your area.
All the best with your privacy hedge – I had no idea how beautiful these structures can be — you are right, it’s an art.