Salix Species, French Pussy Willow, Goat Willow, Great Sallow, Kilmarnock Willow

This European species is what is sold by the nursery industry called the "Pussy Willow". It is very fast growing and cheap. It usually ge...Read Morets about 10 to15 feet high by itself, but can even get to 20 feet high. It needs a lot of proper pruning each year to stay decent and not messy. It can easily be cut to the ground to drastically rejuvenate it. There is a very similar American Pussy Willow, Salix discolor, that is native to North America and would be nicer to use in that the native species provides more benefit for native beneficial insects.

If you go to a nursery and ask for a pussy willow, you'll most likely be sold a male of this species.

It's a fast-growing ...Read Moreupright tree reaching 25-30' tall. As with other willows, its shallow, thirsty roots spread far and wide and tend to bully its neighbors in the garden. To hold it to a manageable size and keep the flowers near eye level, it needs to be cut back close to the ground every year after blooming.

The male plants have showier flowers than the females. The pollen is severely allergenic.

A much showier and easier plant is rose-gold pussy willow, Salix gracilistyla---not the widely hyped cultivar 'Melanostachys', but the plain species, which covers its branches with big silver-pink catkins in mid-January. It's a shrub that won't get much over 10' tall even if you don't prune it.

It's a common species of willow native to Europe and western and central Asia.

I have had this for about 2 mos. and have not encountered the problems the other person here mentioned. Maybe it is because of zonal diff...Read Moreerence-I don't know, but I appreciate the height mine has added and enjoy the contrast it gives to my garden.