Grey willow

Grey willow: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Broad shrub of 3–6 m high and about 5 m across, often with many stems from the base.

Leaf

Alternate, 4–10 cm, obovate to lanceolate with a short, often bent tip and a wavy, irregularly toothed edge; upper side dull grey-green, underside grey-felted, sometimes with rusty hairs.

Twigs

Twigs grey-felted, even in their second year; under the bark of older twigs the wood has distinct lengthwise ridges.

Flower

Catkins in March–April, before the leaves; the male catkins turn golden yellow.

Fruit

Fluffy seeds in May.

Difference from goat willow and eared willow

Goat willow has broader leaves, hairless twigs and no ridges under the bark; eared willow has smaller, strongly wrinkled leaves with large ears and hairless, reddish-brown twigs.

Flowering: March–April · Pruning: April–May

Identify by feature: White or silver underside

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Goat willow Salix caprea: broader leaves, hairless twigs and no ridges under the bark. Difference from goat willow
• Eared willow Salix aurita: smaller, strongly wrinkled leaves with large ears and hairless, reddish-brown twigs. Difference from eared willow

Why grow it?

• One of the earliest pollen sources for bees and bumblebees.
• Food plant for many caterpillars, and a dense shrub for nesting birds.
• Grows fast on wet ground where few other shrubs will thrive.
• Tolerates hard pruning: you can cut it back low down every few years.

Grey willow: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade.
• Moist to wet ground, beside a ditch, moat or pond; any soil type, and it tolerates flooding.
• Allow 3–6 m height and about 5 m width; coppicing keeps it smaller.
• A good spot is the edge of a wet garden, a hedgerow or a bank, not a small border.

Light

Sun or partial shade

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Moist to wet

Size

5 m tall, 5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Alder: The classic tree of wet ground: together a rich, native bank or hedgerow.
• Alder buckthorn: A native shrub for wet ground, with flowers into autumn for bees and berries for birds.
• Guelder rose: White flower heads in May and red berries in autumn, on the same wet ground.
• Goat willow: Flowers at about the same time: together an early pollen source for bees.

Grey willow: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March, when the ground is not frozen.
2. Choose a young plant or bare-root stock from a nursery that sells native planting stock; a cutting from a shrub nearby works too.
3. Male shrubs have the finest golden catkins; female shrubs produce fluff in May.
4. Water after planting; on wet ground it won’t need watering after that.

Care

Watering

Never needed on wet ground; young plants on drier soil during dry spells in the first year.

Feeding

Not needed.

Coppicing

Cut it back low down every few years after flowering to keep it compact.

Seedlings

On wet, bare ground it self-seeds readily: pull up unwanted seedlings while they are young.

Tip: Stack the branches from coppicing into a dead hedge along the edge of the garden: a shelter for hedgehogs, wrens and insects.

Grey willow: when to prune it?

Pruning months: April–May.

When: After flowering (April–May), so that bees can make use of the catkins.

How:

• Tolerates hard pruning: you can cut it back low down every few years.
• In a hedge or hedgerow, don’t cut the whole shrub back at once: do part of it each time, so there is always some cover.
• In between, remove dead and broken branches.

Caution: In spring, check first that no birds are nesting in the shrub.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In winter, push 20–30 cm twigs into moist soil: they usually root well.

Seedlings

Seedlings often appear around a female shrub; transplant them in autumn or winter.

Grey willow: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy, and copes well with winter flooding.
• By late February the buds are already swelling; a few twigs in a vase indoors soon open into catkins.

Diseases and pests

• Rosette gall: A rosette of small leaves at the tip of a twig: the work of a tiny gall midge. Harmless, and lovely to look at.
• Willow rust: Yellow to orange pustules on the leaves in summer; unsightly rather than harmful.
• Willow leaf beetles: Small blue or green beetles and their larvae eat the leaves. A healthy shrub easily grows through it.
• Grown too big: An old shrub becomes wide and falls open. Cut it back low down after flowering: it will regrow vigorously.

Through the year

• March: Flowering: catkins for bees and bumblebees; last month for planting.
• April: Prune or coppice after flowering.
• May: Last month for pruning; fluffy seeds blow around.
• June: Caterpillars and leaf beetles on the leaves: food for birds.
• July: Water young plants on drier soil.
• November: Planting season begins.
• December: Take cuttings and plant in mild weather.

What can you use it for?

For wildlife

Early catkins for bees and bumblebees, food plant for many caterpillars and a dense shrub for nesting birds.

Garden and landscape

Fast-growing native shrub for wet ground, beside a ditch or pond.

Did you know?

• Peel a bit of bark off a two-year-old twig: the lengthwise ridges on the wood give the grey willow away.
• In many places, especially in the west, there is a form with rusty hairs on the underside of the leaves: the rusty willow.
• It hybridises readily with goat willow and eared willow, so many shrubs are hard to name precisely.