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Salix alba Strachowo - White Willow

Salix alba Strachowo
White Willow, Common Willow

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This willow is a large and beautiful deciduous tree with very fast growth, easy to maintain through pollarding. In autumn, its green-grey foliage is adorned with yellow-brown colours, and in winter, its shoots reveal an orange hue. Its both upright and trailing habit is elegant, just like its wide rounded crown adorned with shiny foliage that reveals a silvery underside in the wind. This willow thrives only in moist to wet soils, even heavy ones.
Flower size
6 cm
Height at maturity
25 m
Spread at maturity
15 m
Exposure
Sun, Partial shade
Hardiness
Hardy down to -34°C
Soil moisture
Moist soil, Damp soil
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Best planting time October to November
Recommended planting time February to May, September to November
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Flowering time April to May
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Description

Salix alba 'Strachowo' is a cultivar of white willow or silver willow. Left to grow freely, this tall and beautiful tree reaches a height of 20 to 30 m and has an upright and trailing habit that is very elegant. The overall appearance of the tree is very airy. In spring and summer, the leaves have a silver-green colour, while in autumn, they turn yellow-brown. After the leaves fall, orange shoots emerge during winter, which is very decorative. A willow always brings a romantic atmosphere to the garden. This one, ideal for brightening up dark backgrounds, is best suited for a large garden, to enhance the surroundings of large bodies of water.

Native to wet areas of the Northern Hemisphere, especially Europe, temperate Asia, and North Africa, Salix alba is a highly adaptable and fast-growing tree, reaching 20m in height with a 10m spread. It belongs to the Salicaceae family and the Salix genus, which has no less than 300 species distributed in the cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Its habit is generally rounded, with the tree developing one or several trunks topped with a wide crown. The long, flexible branches are grey-pink and hairy when young. They bear deciduous to semi-evergreen, 10 cm long, narrow leaves, lanceolate in shape. Both sides of the leaf are silky, with the upper side being shiny and dark green, and the lower side white-silvery. Flowering occurs in April-May, at the same time as the young leaves appear. The male catkins are thin, 3 to 5 cm long, arched, and spreading, with a yellowish colour. The female catkins are smaller, denser, and green. The bark of this tree becomes brown-grey and longitudinally fissured with age. Its powerful root system, both taproot and spreading, is perfectly adapted to deep and unstable soils. For this reason, it is advisable to keep this willow away from drains and pipes. White willow is also a medicinal plant, with its bark being the original source of aspirin. Salix alba can reach the venerable age of 100 years.

The 'Strachowo' white willow will eventually reach a height of 20 to 30 m and a width of 15 m if left to grow freely, but it is easily contained by pollarding, which promotes the formation of its coloured wood.

The 'Strachowo' white willow can be planted as a specimen tree or along the edge of a water feature in large gardens. Its silver foliage is valuable for bringing light to a darker setting, such as on the outskirts of the countryside. Among the plants that can accompany it near the water, you can find horsetails, reeds, purple loosestrife, daylilies, Scirpus, and Typha angustifolia, for example.

Tips: Collect fallen leaves in autumn and burn them if the tree shows black spots (anthracnose) or yellow-orange spots (rust) during its growth. Once all the leaves have fallen, treat with Bordeaux mixture.

Plant habit

Height at maturity 25 m
Spread at maturity 15 m
Habit spreading
Growth rate fast

Flowering

Flower colour insignificant
Flowering time April to May
Bee-friendly Attracts pollinators

Foliage

Foliage persistence Deciduous
Foliage colour green

Botanical data

Genus

Salix

Species

alba

Cultivar

Strachowo

Family

Salicaceae

Other common names

White Willow, Common Willow

Origin

Cultivar or hybrid

Product reference22177

Planting and care

Salix alba Strachowo is best planted in the autumn, from September to November, in any moist, even damp, fairly heavy, rich soil, in a sunny location. Water and mulch young plants. To limit growth, periodically and severely prune all branches to form a 'pollarded tree', a sort of stump from which numerous shoots grow. A short pruning of this type during winter is often the best way to contain anthracnose attacks (black spots, cracks).

Planting period

Best planting time October to November
Recommended planting time February to May, September to November

Intended location

Suitable for Meadow, Pond edge
Type of use Free-standing, Hedge
Hardiness Hardy down to -34°C (USDA zone 4) Show map
Ease of cultivation Beginner
Planting density 1 per m2
Exposure Sun, Partial shade
Soil pH Any
Soil type Clayey (heavy), Clayey-chalky (heavy and alkaline), Silty-loamy (rich and light)
Soil moisture Moist soil, Damp soil, Deep, fertile, and moist

Care

Pruning instructions To limit growth, periodically and severely prune all branches to form a pollarded tree, a kind of stump from which numerous shoots grow. A short pruning of this type during the winter is often the best way to contain anthracnose attacks (black spots, cracks).
Pruning Pruning recommended once a year
Pruning time January to March
Soil moisture Moist soil, Damp soil
Disease resistance Average
Overwinter Can be left in the ground

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