Salix triandra - Almond Willow

Salix triandra or grey willow is a small tree or large bush native to wet places in Europe. It is one of the most commonly used willows in basketry because it produces very erect, straight, and tapered young branches each year, especially when grown as a pollard! They are particularly ornamental in the garden as they take on quite vibrant colours: olive to reddish brown. It has pretty lanceolate and pointed leaves, dark green on the upper surface, glaucous on the lower surface. In spring, it produces elongated male catkins of bright yellow. Use it as a tree or a large bush to create a beautiful informal hedge in combination with other trees and shrubs. To regularly have numerous flowering and well-coloured branches, prune them at their base every few years. This almond willow with its light and fresh foliage is very easy to grow in fairly deep, rich, and moist to wet soils.

Salix triandra belongs to the willow family. It is a deciduous botanical species native to mainly central Europe and central and northern Asia. The almond willow is a light species that particularly likes heavy, clayey, rich, and moist soils.

It has a bushy habit, often with several upright trunks. It is often found pruned as a pollard because it is cultivated for basketry. At maturity, it forms a bush 6 m (20ft) high and 4 m (13ft) wide but it can easily exceed 20 metres (66 feet) if left to develop naturally. The young branches are smooth, channelled, tapered, and olive-green. As it ages, the bark becomes brown and tends to peel off in plates, revealing a brownish-orange layer underneath. The deciduous foliage is composed of leaves which are dark green and shiny on the upper surface with a matte, glaucous underside. They turn yellow in autumn before falling. Very lanceolate, oval-elliptical, pointed, with wavy edges, they measure 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4in) long. Flowering occurs in March-April, in catkins, before the appearance of the leaves, on 1-year-old branches. The male catkins are very decorative and nectar-rich. These elongated and loose catkins, 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4in) long, bear 3 stamens alluded to by the name "triandra". The female catkins are more discreet. Almond willow is dioecious, bearing male and female flowers on separate plants.

The almond willow is perfectly resistant to heavy frost and is very easy to grow in ordinary soil, in all regions. Undemanding with regards to the soil, it prefers heavy, clayey, rich, and not too dry soil. Prune it every year after flowering to encourage it to thicken and produce numerous flowering branches. It can be placed in isolation, surrounded by early-flowering bulbs (snowdrops, crocuses, fritillaries, hyacinths), in an informal hedge, or at the back of a border. It will be perfect in a nature-inspired garden. Consider creating bouquets with its branches adorned with silvery catkins. In a vase, they beautifully accompany those of the Prunus triloba, flowering cherry and plum trees that will be awakened by the warmth of the house.

Properties:

Like all willows, this species contains a substance similar to aspirin in its bark. It is highly nectar-rich and honey-producing: bees that gather nectar from it produce honey of golden yellow colour, iridescent with green, which takes on amber to beige hues as it ages. Its flavour is sweet, floral and slightly woody. Relatively rare, this honey is mainly produced in the west of France. Its foliage was formerly used as fodder for goats.