Salix babylonica

Getting talller and taller -- with a little help from my stubbornness. @columbiariver it might look ridiculous when the leaves fall, we'll see.

It all looks very lovely right now Mona!💘😍

I do like the look right now, and I know that in my (most of the time) damp garden it pays to let air circulate as much as possible. @columbiariver @ShelleySnyder

They are lovely @cyndi. I find myself attracted to the weeping variety of just about any tree - I wish I had more room!

I am all for working with nature and all that, but I still keep wanting to change things. In an attempt to raise this salix a bit while creating a kind of sculpture-effect underneath (to be seen when the leaves are gone), I try to encourage the lower branches to grow out through the top. All of them may not appreciate it, but some might, and after all it is my party and I should get to decide. Right?

Thanks @gjones . I've also had mixed results, but it is always worth a try. If they don't want to reach up and over, I'll just cut the lower branches off (do you hear that salix? That's a threat!) because I (and the surrounding plants) don't like it when the branches reach all the way down to the ground.

You go girl!! Cut it, beat it threaten it into submission!!😂 That's what I do!💘😍

🤣🤣🤣 @ShelleySnyder 🤣🤣🤣 and those aren't empty threats either!

😂😂😂😂💘😍

I have lifted it again just last week, so it keeps getting taller. Time will tell if I like the look underneath the leaves, but I love the air and space it creates for the border around it. @columbiariver

I don't know @columbiariver , I might end up doing a combination of cutting the lower branches and pulling the longer ones up and over for height. Naturally it will have to end at some point, but I wouldn't mind it getting even higher than it is now, so I'll probably continue. Unless I end up hating my winter view (I am looking straight at it from my livingroom coffee chair)

Lots of dead twigs on my salix this year. Had to cut away quite a bit of the framework as well, and the drastic haircut has left the 'sculpture' a bit unbalanced, but hopefully there will be strong new shoots to work with later in the season.

You can pollard these right back if you want Mona 👍 maybe not right back to trunk but just to balance it out 🙂 it looks like a lovely gnarly specimen and I mean that it a good way 😍

@icedance I was quite happy with the added heigh, so I'll try to balance it first. If it doesn't work, I'll start again from lower down. Quite a few buds, so there is definitely some life force left. Until today, old gnarly was known as 'the bird cage'. Not exactly escape proof, but I still like it😉

Sounds an excellent plan and love the name it does look like a bid cage without a bottom 😂😂 you can't beat a characterful old tree 🌲 💚

TBH looks great to my eyes #avantgarde

Nice unusual shape ; It's unique and yours 💪😁

See! I'll be starting a trend next! @clipperty @lifeonaroofterrace @icedance