Can a fir or other evergreen be grafted to a willow to give super growth rate?

GervisLooper

twopenny said:

On the other hand Willow thrives in that wet soil you have and should help soak it up.

Indeed it is exactly why I planted them on recommendations they are the most moisture loving trees to complement the wet land.

Working_Mum

I planted a twisted willow in my garden in 2022 - which I'd grown from a whip the previous year. It has grown to almost 20 feet I'd say now. Willows whips can just be cut and stuck straight into the ground apparently. so once you've acquired one you probably don't need to keep spending for new trees.

Rowan has grown well in my garden and so has hazel. Buddleia's are quick growing, great for wildlife but can be a bit thuggish but they seem to be bombproof.

GervisLooper

Working_Mum said:

I planted a twisted willow in my garden in 2023 - which I'd grown from a whip the previous year. It has grown to almost 20 feet I'd say now. Willows whips can just be cut and stuck straight into the ground apparently. so once you've acquired one you probably don't need to keep spending for new trees.

Rowan has grown well in my garden and so has hazel. Buddleia's are quick growing, great for wildlife but can be a bit thuggish but they seem to be bombproof.

Interesting. I have gotten and planted some cuttings from my mum's corkscrew willow.

I have planted 3 types so far, the corkscrew, weeping and the supposed biomass super willow. The corkscrew ones are the only ones that have shown growth so far with 4-8 inch spindly shoots on a couple of them. The other two types have been dormant with no noticeable growth until the last weeks or two where they seem to be waking up.

The super willows were marketed as having a growth rate of up to 3-4 meters per year. That is yet to be seen!

Interested to see if the latter two will suddenly take off as spring comes but the corkscrew has shown steady growth all through this cold season. That reminds me I will ask my mum to get me some more of those corkscrew cuttings.

wort

Definitely corkscrew willow ,mine grew so big over 5 years my neighbour asked me to cut it down. I loved it. My dgson used to push the sticks we cut off into pots etc , and they all grew without any care at all .

FlorayG

FreeBear said:

Farway said:  Fastest growing trees? In UK The Leyland Cypress is one, but I doubt it would make a canopy.

Radiata Pine - 25-50 years to mature to a sufficient size for logging. So pretty quick growing.

But growing Leylandii or Radiata will not make you popular with the neighbours.

Ha ha I grew one of those pines from seed - in 15 years it was 20ft high but far from the house so I didn't mind - but the tree surgeon said that in a few more years it would start to lift the nearby road and pavement and would have to be removed. 
I sold the house; the new owners pulled up or cut down all my fruit trees that I had nurtured for many years and left the radius pine alone...I hope it comes back to bite them