Introducing...
Willow trees
Botanical name: Salix
Common name: willow
Fast-growing, graceful, spreading or weeping, willow trees are a good choice for larger gardens with damp soil. They also make excellent screening trees and windbreaks, and their early and abundant catkins are a valuable food source for bees.
Looks
Willow trees tend to be large, with long, slender stems. They are often the first tree to come into leaf in early spring, with bright green or silvery grey-green foliage. Their abundant fluffy catkins in spring are a magnet for bees. The weeping willow has gracefully arching branches.
Likes
Willow trees like full sun and deep, fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Many even thrive in permanently wet conditions.
Dislikes
They don’t generally thrive in very dry, shallow or chalky soils, and dislike shade.
Did you know?
The contorted willow (Salix babylonica var. pekinensis ‘Tortuosa’) not only has curiously twisted and contorted stems but also twisted leaves too.
Growing guide
How to grow willow trees
All the information you'll need to grow and care for willow trees in your garden.
Willow trees we recommend
Salix babylonica var. pekinensis 'Tortuosa' (f)
dragon's claw willow
- Higher than 12 metres
- 4–8 metres
Salix babylonica var. pekinensis 'Tortuosa' (f)
dragon's claw willow
- Higher than 12 metres
- 4–8 metres
Useful advice
Trees and the law
Choosing native trees and shrubs
Gardening on wet soils
Algae, lichens and mosses on trees and shrubs
Plants for under trees
Plants for winter interest
Trees and shrubs: establishment problems
Get involved
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