A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Intro and 1st of many questions

Hello Everybody,
I think I will like this place.
I am a novice-intermediate plant enthousiest or at least try to be. I really enjoy and appreciate plant life.

My Intro : I am a 42 year old married guy that works as an electrician I live in southern cal. I try my best to keep my yard looking good for the obvious reasons. I found this group somehow while looking for reasons to either keep or get rid of a newly planted weeping willow tree.

which leads me to my question: I am concerned that this once and still cute little willow tree will grow up to the point of tearing up my landscape uplifting or moving walls and generally turning my willow experience into a nightmare.
Should this willow stay in the wild were there found or can a tamed willow accommodate my appreciation and conserve damaging the rest of my yard. I will get more in detail about other willow concerns after I get a conversion reply.

Take care and have a happy Thanks Giving.

Sincerely Mark

Hello Mark I'm glad you found this place too, & I do hope you'll stay with us after you get your willow issue solved. The personalities here are terrific folks & are VERY helpful, so whether you keep your willow or not, I can almost guarantee that they'll be able to give you a hand with enhancing the great landscaping it sounds like you already have underway!

You just might also learn more about plant life than you were ever afraid to ask. . . or ever wondered about! Sharing your experiences may be a big help to the rest of us as well, cuz many of us are just starting out & need all the help we can get! (So don't be shy!)

I saw your other post in " flowers, plants and Gardening". I'm not a tree person, but have had issues with cracked foundation in the past, from trees that someone had planted too close to the house! I'm no expert, by any means, & might be a bit gun-shy about planting trees (& some types of shrubbery) too close to functional structures, but I do know that I'd never plant any tree only 5 feet away from a house or a retaining wall! (& some willows can get pretty big!) It may be years before a problem even rears its head, but when it does, it could be pretty ugly!

THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION, so don't go out & chop down that beautiful tree until you hear from somebody in the know! If YOU planted the tree, you must know exactly what kind of willow it is. . . I'm sure there are many different kinds of willow, with as many different characteristics, so knowing what you've got is going to be helpful in determining just what the root structure has the potential to do.

Anyway, I'm sure someone who knows will answer the question you posted, so keep checking back (I have a hunch that many folks are away from their computers this weekend, so if you don't get a lot of response right away, don't be discouraged. . . they'll come!) I really hope you can keep your tree where you planted it, though!

Meanwhile, welcome to the Forum & again, I hope you'll stay with us & become part of the terrific Forum Family here. Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours!
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Welcome to the forum. I've never had a willow but always enjoyed the beautiful one my neighbor had growing up. I also got a kick out of the bad words that would float over the fence as he cut it down every other year. The roots are invasive and should be far away from your house but I don't think there is a prettier tree. Good luck with it (and the rest of your gardening).

welcome Mark tried to post and it poofed so will try again. I am not a tree expert and I do have a corkscrew willow in a 5 gal bucket will get in larger container as need be, I have seen willows completle uproot sewer system and ruin house fondations they were planted to close to. Last week was by my granddads old homestead in Hall co. Texas and the willow tree that was there then in 1914 is still there today. It was about 20 feet from the old house and the new people built thier house in almost the same spot but the old tree is still doing great. That gives you an idea about how long these trees can live even out like that only water it gets is what its roots can find. If the tree was in my yard I would replace it with some native to my area tree as I tend to like native trees better then import trees even from a neighboring state. Like I said I am not an expert but one should be along to help you out real soon.
Jimmy

Sorry I can't answer your question,just wanted to pop by and say Hello!

G-Mom

Sorry I can't answer your questions but I love weeping willow trees they are beautiful I hope there is a way for you to keep it.