posted 4 months ago
For what it's worth, I have a couple different kinds of willows on my pond that the previous owner put there, not sure why, but they have some serious issues.
They fall over and snap off in wind storms and any part of them that touches the ground roots and sends up dozens of shoots per an area the length of your forearm. Any small part of them that snaps off, even if an animal is browsing the branches or climbing the tree, and floats on the water starts rooting as soon as it floats to the edge, literally within a week. We've had to go after shoots that have rooted, then it rains heavily, the pond rises over that shoot and it goes nuts, and we can't get to the base of it until the water recedes, during which it can triple its roots and shoots. Willows growing in an area with a high water table respond that way, too.
That tidy great picture in this thread of the bare criss-cross "fence," no....just....no. The trimming off of shoots on those stems is monumental! I haven't seen a bare trunk like that...ever. I can't imagine a worse way to spend my rural caretaking property time.
Maybe not all kinds of willows are as invasive and frantically growing as mine, but any plant that lives and thrives near water or in a high water table location usually has a lot going on.
Elaeagnus silverberry is a good living fence/hedge in Zones 7, 8 and 9. It's drought tolerant once established. it does have a big thorn on older growth, so it's a bit risky to cut back the old stuff, but that keeps animals from going past it. The new growth is easily managed 3 times a year with an electric hedge cutter or shears.
It can get quite tall, but can be kept at a reasonable height so it's not a struggle to maintain.
Mediterranean climate, hugel trenches, fabulous clay soil high in nutrients, self-watering containers with hugel layers, keyhole composting with low hugel raised beds, thick Back to Eden Wood chips mulch (distinguished from Bark chips), using as many native plants as possible....all drought tolerant.
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