Dwarf Willow

[Nikki73]

I think its a dwarf willow we have in our front garden. It was bought for us when we first moved here just over 2 years ago. It used to be in a pot but since ive planted it out its done so much better.

The problem is it hasnt grown height wise at all The branches are all really really long and laying on the ground by a good 1 or 2 feet. The tree height at the moment is only about 2 foot.

Any ideas??

Oh and do I trim to branches that are on the ground??

many thanks

[rainbowgardener]

You may be doing well to get it to be two feet tall and that may just be it's growth habit. Here's what Wiki says about dwarf willow:

Some willows (particularly arctic and alpine species) are low-growing or creeping shrubs; for example the Dwarf Willow (Salix herbacea) rarely exceeds 6 cm (2 in) in height, though spreading widely across the ground. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow

Whether you trim the branches depends on whether you like them there or not, but understand that this is probably more a ground-covery thing than what we ordinarily think of as a tree.

Although if your tree is two feet tall, it may not be a salix herbacea, because everything I read about that one is that it is strictly a low growing ground cover used for erosion control on stream banks.

So maybe you have another kind of willow with more potential for vertical growth.