Creeping willow

Creeping willow: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Low, creeping little willow of 0.2–1 m with partly trailing branches and underground runners.

Leaf

Alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, 1–4 cm, untoothed or finely toothed; underside (in the dunes both sides) covered with silky silver hairs.

Bark

Thin, reddish-brown to grey twigs, partly lying on the ground and rooting from underground runners.

Flower

Small catkins (1–2 cm) in April–May, just before or with the leaves; male ones yellow, female ones greenish, on separate plants.

Fruit

Small capsules that split open in May–June and release seeds with white fluff.

Difference from goat willow

Goat willow is a large shrub or tree with broad leaves, grey-felted underneath, and big, fat catkins.

Difference from osier

Osier is a large shrub with long, narrow leaves (10–20 cm).

Flowering: April–May · Pruning: May–June

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Goat willow Salix caprea: a large shrub or tree with broad leaves, grey-felted underneath, and big, fat catkins. Difference from goat willow
• Osier Salix viminalis: a large shrub with long, narrow leaves (10–20 cm). Difference from osier

Why grow it?

• Early catkins in April: pollen and nectar for bees and bumblebees.
• Native, and a food plant for many insects.
• A low, silvery-green ground cover for sandy soil, even by the sea.
• Tolerates drought and wet soil, wind and salty sea air.

Creeping willow: where does it grow best?

• Full sun; in shade it becomes straggly.
• Poor, sandy soil, acid or chalky: it grows on heaths as well as in limy dunes.
• Dry or moist: from blowing dune sand to wet dune slacks and wet heath.
• Allow 1–1.5 m width; with its runners it can spread further.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Dry to wet

Size

0.8 m tall, 1.5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Burnet rose: A low, native shrub rose of the same dunes, with white flowers in May–June and black hips.
• Sea buckthorn: A native dune shrub with orange berries, for the same sunny sandy soil.
• Heather: For a heather garden on acid sand: creeping willow flowers in April, heather in August.
• Cross-leaved heath: For the wet, acid side of the heather garden.

Good and bad companions

Best kept away from

• Do not plant under the dense crown of these trees: norway spruce, european silver fir, nordmann fir, douglas fir, yew, horse chestnut, norway maple, sycamore

Creeping willow: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in autumn or early spring (October–March), while the plant is bare; pot-grown plants can also go in later, except in drought or frost.
2. Buy plants from a nursery that grows native plants, preferably of local origin; don’t take them from the wild.
3. Space them 60–80 cm apart for a closed ground cover.
4. Don’t add fertiliser to the planting soil, and water well after planting. For the yellow pollen catkins, choose a male plant, if the nursery sells them separately.

Care

Watering

Water in dry spells during the first year; after that it copes on its own.

Feeding

Not needed: creeping willow likes poor soil.

Runners

Cut off runners that spread too far into a border or path.

Weeding

In the first years, weed out grasses between the young plants until they cover the ground.

Tip: Plant a creeping willow at the edge of a sandy, sunny garden or on a bank: it holds the sand, and in April it hums with bees. The silver-leaved dune form is especially attractive.

Creeping willow: when to prune it?

Pruning months: May–June.

When: After flowering, in May–June.

How:

• Little needed. Trim overlong or upright branches.
• An old plant can be cut back hard: it regrows easily.

Caution: Don’t prune in winter or early spring: you would cut off the catkins, which feed the first bees in April.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

Use the prunings from May–June: 10–15 cm cuttings root easily in moist soil or in a glass of water.

Division

In autumn or early spring, dig up a piece with runners and roots and replant it.

Creeping willow: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy; sea wind and frost don’t harm it.
• Bare in winter; the catkin buds are already waiting on the twigs.

Diseases and pests

• Rust: Orange pustules on the leaves in late summer: a rust fungus that is common on willows. Usually harmless; clear up fallen leaves if it is bad.
• Leaf beetles: Small, shiny blue or green beetles and their larvae eat the leaves. A healthy plant recovers.
• Spreading: Its runners push into borders and paths. Cut them off with a spade.
• Straggly and bare: Too much shade, or an old plant. Move it into the sun and rejuvenate it after flowering.

Through the year

• March: The catkin buds swell; planting still possible.
• April: Flowering: catkins for bees and bumblebees.
• May: Prune after flowering: shorten overlong branches; white seed fluff.
• June: Last month for pruning; take cuttings from the prunings.
• August: Water in long dry spells, especially young plants.
• October: Planting and cutting off runners.
• November: Planting.

What can you use it for?

For wildlife

Early catkins: pollen and nectar for bees and bumblebees in April; food plant for many insects.

Garden and landscape

Low ground cover for a sunny garden on sandy soil, even by the sea.

Also used for

Binds the blowing sand in the dunes.

Did you know?

• In the dunes it keeps getting buried by blowing sand, but grows up through it: in this way it builds its own little dunes.
• There are two forms: a green one of the heaths and a silvery-haired one of the dunes, whose leaves are silvery on both sides.
• In spring, creeping willow is one of the first sources of pollen for many wild bees.