Growing willows for winter stem colour

The winter and spring are when willows come into their own. Certain willows have striking stem colour whilst others combine this with beautiful catkins. However, since the 1960’s and 70’s when weeping willows got a bad press for causing subsidence problems when planted in small gardens many of these varieties have fallen out of favour.

There is really no need to tar all willows with the same brush though. If you control willows by coppicing every 1 to 3 years you shouldn’t have any problems at all.

At present you are most likely to see coloured willows in large gardens and arboretums. Yellow and orange stemmed varieties are fairly common but reds and violets are less so. In the case of the reds, they are probably pushed out of the limelight by the myriad of dogwood (Cornus spp.) varieties but it is a mystery why purple stemmed willows are not more widely cultivated. These include S. daphnoides and S. irrorata (which commonly have a white bloom) and are very striking in January –March when their silvery catkins turn to golden flames on male plants. They also have the added benefit that they are able to survive on poor soils and contaminated sites.

 Almost black stems may be found in various S. caprea and S.nigricans varieties such as ‘Silberglanz’ and ‘Faucille’. A good contrast to the darker stems is the pale buff of S. x ehrhartiana which is also notable for its black buds.

Which willows

How to do it

See activity 9: How to grow willows. If you have space be creative by planting several coloured varieties together to form a willow rainbow. To continually benefit from the youthful colour display you will need to coppice (cut back the shoots to the base) every 1-2 years in the winter-spring. If you are using these willows to hide something unsightly plant in a staggered fashion so you can cut every second plant and alternate each year to retain your screen.

Willow fact

The different winter colours are the result of the many pigments contained in the plant. As the day length decreases during late summer and autumn, the most prominent pigment called chlorophyll (which is used in photosynthesis and responsible for the green colour of leaves and stems) is produced in smaller quantities and this allows other pigments to be seen. Yellow colours are the result of the pigment xanthophyll, the orange-red tones are caused by carotene pigments and reds and purples by anthocyanins. These are the same pigments that provide the wonderful autumn colour in the leaves of maples (Acer spp) and other trees. As a rule sunny days and cool nights cause brilliant autumn colours whilst cloudy days and warm nights produce a drabber colour.