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Weeping Pussy Willow

Timothy Norton

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I have received an interesting gift, and am a bit puzzled on what I want to do with it.

Has anyone heard of a weeping pussy willow?

My wife found the plant above at a local store and brought it home. Very neat, very sweet! It looks like a goofy grafted plant that has been doing surprisingly well but I don't like the idea of keeping it in it's teeny tiny pot. Doing some research it seems to be able to be planted in my zone with success.

Currently, I am planning on finding a spot outside to plant but I am not familiar with Pussy Willows.

Does anyone have experience with these?

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Matt McSpadden

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We have our fair share of pussy willows up here... but I can say that I have never heard of a weeping pussy willow.

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Christopher Weeks

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Weeping willows and pussy willows both thrive in northern Minnesota. I don't really know anything about them other than we have them.

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Matt McSpadden

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Well, you learn new things all the time.

This Pussy Willow is known as “Goat Willow” in regions where it is native, which includes an area from the U.K. to Central Asia... This weeping form was found in the town of Kilmarnock, Scotland around 1853. Because of that fact, it is sometimes referred to as “Kilmarnock Willow.”

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Marianna Marinda

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I have some weeping pussy willow, but don't have any established enough to see it mature. If it is Salix caprea (the goat willow; does the plant tag tell you?) it will appreciate a little less wetness in the soil than other willows are happy with. (More a normal plant in the landscape rather than a water-loving one). Keep it away from underground pipes and sidewalks where you plant it, since willow roots can wreck such things. I believe it should have needs and yearly growth similar to other willows of its kind... except that to get height you'll need to stake it up. (It might make a good groundcover otherwise!) If you want to make a weeping tree of it, I suggest staking a nice long stem (or a few stems braided together!) up to the height you like... for a year or more, until they are mature enough not to be so bendable anymore, and are able to hold their own weight. As you get growth out the top where you want it, trim out all the growth along the trunk where you don't.

Pussy willows can also make great late winter bouquets, I understand. All you need do is cut the branch at the perfect flowering time that you like... and then DON'T put it in water. It will dry in place and keep its beauty for months! Perhaps I should try that this year!

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Joseph Lofthouse

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I found the same plant at the grocery store last month. I snagged it, because I have been wanting a pussy willow for early food for my pollinators.

I intend to plant it outside, and it can live or die. I also took cuttings of the weeping part, and I'll plant them out too. Cause then if the root-stock dies, I'll still have the weeping willow.

weeping-pussy-willow.jpg

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Samantha Lewis

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Hello Timothy!

I had one of these at a place I rented. It was well established and had created a large area under itself that was well hidden. It was the kids' favorite place to play and hide.
In the spring, these were the first flowers and the tree would be a mass of buzzing and bees. The top of the tree was so dense that many bird families would nest and hatch out their young each summer. We could not see any nests but we could hear them.

If I saw one of these at a store I would buy it!

I would love to plant a few at Wheaton Labs over a three log bench, next to the pond or where the creek runs through. It would create a secluded place to rest in the shade and enjoy.

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Timothy Norton

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I took a minute to snap a few photos of my actual tree.

I'm glad that I did not throw away the tag like I usually do.

Here is a little of what it says.

C Fox

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posted 1 month ago

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My grandma had a lot of these on the farm when I was a kid.
We loved playing under them
I'm trying to find a few to purchase and plant here where I live in Iowa.

Cindy at Simply Backwoods

Kim Wills

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Yes! I love them!! One of my schools had one by a pond, it was so beautiful draping partly over the water. It was huge! I recall learning that they need a lot of water and do best in wet areas. If you have an area where you want to soak up some water, maybe that's a good spot. I am not 100% sure of that; it's just from memory. I find them so relaxing to look at, as if they cause me to droop right along with them, lol. I wish I had a big one I could sit under, or put a hammock under... ahhhh....!

Now we're discussing where we could put one in the future, thanks for the idea!

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Cécile Stelzer Johnson

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Because I'm more familiar with the regular willow [Salix Babylonica] that grows near bodies of water and that you should never plant next to your septic tank, I was intrigued by what you have here, Tim.
It turns out that the eventual size of this willow [Salix Caprea Pendula] is about 6 ft, with a spread of 8' and lives about 40 years. they do say that it has "a fast rate of growth", so perhaps I still would not plant it over the septic tank! [it is grafted]
https://plants.gertens.com/12070009/Plant/1391/Weeping_Pussy_Willow/#:~:text=Weeping%20Pussy%20Willow%20will%20grow,for%2040%20years%20or%20more., so that's a plus, and it certainly looks pretty in the spring
They do say that it is suitable under phone lines. On the negative, it is "messy". You have to trim it often?

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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Timothy Norton wrote:I have received an interesting gift, and am a bit puzzled on what I want to do with it.

Has anyone heard of a weeping pussy willow?

...

Does anyone have experience with these?

Weeping Willows are very common where I live. They are a variety (cultivar) of an ordinary kind of willow. Most willows have those 'pussies', so it's nothing special that the 'weeping' willow has them too.
Willow trees LOVE to stand near (fresh) water, like a stream or a river. I don't think they need special soil (the soil here is sandy with plenty organic matter because there used to be peat bogs/moors in this region).

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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Marianna Marinda wrote:I have some weeping pussy willow, but don't have any established enough to see it mature. If it is Salix caprea (the goat willow; does the plant tag tell you?) it will appreciate a little less wetness in the soil than other willows are happy with. (More a normal plant in the landscape rather than a water-loving one). ...)

I do not think it wants a less wet spot than other willows. Here they are all planted next to the small river that flows through my neighbourhood.
And my parents had a large weeping willow at the back of the back yard, planted long before we came to live there, and it was almost IN a small ditch, the wettest spot there was.

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

Sarah Joubert

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My Mom has one in her garden in the Cotswolds, UK. It's just over 4ft high and probably 5ft wide. She's been there 15 years and it hasn't grown much taller. But it has grown much wider, it is very dense. She occasionally attacks it but at 80 she soon runs out of puff! It did start to lean a few years back so had to be propped up. It's really pretty in the spring. I'm visiting her on Monday, I shall take a photo and post it when I get back

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Barbara Simoes

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There seems to be some confusion between weeping willows and pussy willows. Just like there are many birches that look and need different things, I'm assuming the same to be true here. A neighbor has a weeping willow in his back yard and the thing is huge. It was leaning toward one of my buildings, to which I mentioned it to them. They cut it down probably 20 years ago and lo and behold, the thing grew right back. It is probably 50' - 75' tall again. Pussy willows also grow around here, but they only get to about 15', however they seem to grow laterally like bamboo, sending out runners that spring up. They all like some moisture to varying degrees. I LOVE pussy willows but would be leery to plant them for that reason. I would do a search and look on reliable plant databases rather than blogs and such.

May Lotito

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Is it supposed to be a bonsai? The weeping willow top is grafted onto a regular willow and the 1ft rootstock won't grow any taller. New shoots will grow downwards later on, given the weeping genetics. Usually weeping yard trees are grafted onto taller stocks or trained upright till reaching desired height. I am curious what it's going to turn out.

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Marianna Marinda

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Barbara Simoes wrote:

They all like some moisture to varying degrees. I LOVE pussy willows but would be leery to plant them for that reason. I would do a search and look on reliable plant databases rather than blogs and such.

I think that's great advice, but easier said than done. A few years ago, before Michael Doge retired from Vermont Willow Nursery, the descriptions he had online were more helpful and comprehensive than anything I could find elsewhere online about all kinds of willows. That's where I gathered much of my info from, before it was taken down it seems for good. There are willows who like it drier/sandier, and willows who will take flooding and grow in standing water... but most just like it regularly moist yet not more than occasionally waterlogged. Pussy willows refer to any willows that have (usually large and) showy catkins before the leaves in spring, some of which take pretty wet areas and some of which don't. So it's good to know your species so you can cooperate with its needs best.

In my notes, I suppose Salix caprea falls into neither of these extremes, even though I've tended to think of it as one that liked a little more dryness. I don't remember why, though.

Eino Kenttä

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Regarding water requirements: I believe Salix caprea (also known as goat willow) doesn't need nearly as much water as some Salix species. Around here, they seldom grow in very wet places. They seem to prefer forest edges and abandoned fields. I would have guessed the same goes for the weeping variety, but I don't know for sure.

Inge Leonora-den Ouden

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I saw a 'pussy willow' in full bloom yesterday, so I made a photo of the 'pussies' (catkins). Like some others here said: it isn't a large tree, it grows in the same shape as a hazel, many large branches come out from the ground.
If I don't forget I'll make photos of large weeping willows too ...

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

Sarah Joubert

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Here's the photo of my mum's weeping pussy willow. You can see it's fallen over and is growing almost perpendicular to the original trunk. I guess it would be around 8ft high if it had grown straight up. There are also suckers growing straight up from the base of the trunk which will probaly form a new "umbrella". Hmmm, now do I cut the lateral "umbrella" off and allow the new one to form? It looks like they are growing straight up though, so may be the rootstock suckers?

Willow-1.jpg

IMG_20250326_090815_661.jpg

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May Lotito

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Hi Sarah, that's one massive tree your money has and great demonstration of how weeping tree grows.

Regular willow weeps because the branches are pliable but true weeping willow, as well as other weepinging trees, is different in that their growth hormones respond to gravity the opposite way. If you lay a twig horizontal, the weeping one will have the tip growing downwards instead of going up. So the vertical shoots you see are from the regular willow root stock and need to be trimmed.

Usually true weeping willows are pruned after blooming by removing all the downwards shoots and only keeping the one on the upper side. These will gradually add height to the tree for an umbrella shape.

20250327_191907.jpg

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Maieshe Ljin

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I have often seen young stump sprouts of willow, weeping most likely, that are growing straight and vigorously upright. But then perhaps in their age they start flopping over. I think I saw by the cut trunks and their canopies that they were weeping willow, and the twigs looked like it as well. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else has seen this.

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May Lotito

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Here is my coppiced weeping willow, and the young branches are pointing up. Over time with the gaining of length and weight, the branches will start arching over and the ends will drape down. This tree was rooted from a branch of a 70 ft tree brought down by straight line wind.

The true weeping pussy willow has a more compact and tighter angle of bending. The best way to test it is to lay a branch horizontally and see which way the tip grows. Here is a video of a weeping pussy willow not appeared to be grafted. The angles of side branches and overall shape clearly show that it's different from regular pussy willow.