Help with Willow

[Taupotreeman]

Morning all. Need a bit of help with this Willow. It's got great sentimental value to the owner so it's being retained whatever. Large chunk of decay on the opposite side from the weight and lean and that decay extends up about 2m. There seems to be some reactionary wood on the compression side but naff all of any worth on the tension side. I'm thinking that less is more so rather than a reduction maybe just a bit of light thinning and some minor weight reduction over the entirety of the tree along with removing the dead and then just leave it be. Input appreciated.

[Macca]

Why not just mulch around it and leave it to its own devices if it's of sentimental value! Maybe some sort of fence to keep targets away.

[Taupotreeman]

Why not just mulch around it and leave it to its own devices if it's of sentimental value! Maybe some sort of fence to keep targets away.

 

 

No real targets underneath Macca so no worry there. The owner wants to preserve it for as long as he can rather than have it collapse. A couple of people elsewhere have suggested propping, something I have never done so any info on that would also be good although I'll look at bringing in someone else for that.

[daltontrees]

If there's nothing or no-one to be hit when it fails, leave it be. Any pruning will just reduce its ability to resist the spread of decay and would possibly have minimal effect on reducing the weight. Re-mulch it, as Macca suggests, this is often the best gift to a tree.

[Andrew Gale]

Increase mulching, prop the larger boughs and instigate a phased period of very light reductions to bring the crown a little lower to lessen the loading on the area of decay; once the reductions have achieved the desired effect the props could be removed.

 

Just an idea..............

[treesrus]

just prop it, no need for any reduction, the tree is stable as is, but propping will offer adequate stability to preserve the trees life. props are easy to fix, 2 x 6" posts lashed together in X form.

[Mick Dempsey]

Why not instead of treating it like a veteran oak i.e. Managing its decline, treat it like a willow?

The biggest threat to the tree is break off at the base due to the lean, which judging by those 10 year old water sprouts is recent.

Cut the tree at those points (with the arrow) if there's some shading that caused the lean remove that.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Mick Dempsey

[treeseer]

That could work, but lose a lot of crown.

 

I like the overall reduction idea, 3m+ off the ends, cuts <10cm.