Dying Salix Caprea Kilmarnock (1 Viewer)

[Hobbes2]

I hope this is the right place to pose this question/concern...

About 5 years ago I planted a Salix Caprea Kilmarnock in my small garden. It seemed to grow pretty well for the first 3 years. However, last winter I had to cut back a lot of dead fronds and this winter the 'die back' is considerably worse. I went to my local garden centre and the advice was to cut out the dead wood and give it a good feed. I have just finished pruning (and feeding) and, to be frank, there's not much of the tree left! 95% of the fronds were dead. A handful of fronds show signs of budding catkins. Is it worth persevering or has this tree 'had it'?!

Attached are a couple of photos showing how it looked at the end of Oct 2010 - you can clearly see that the front half of the tree (where there is a lack of leaves) has died. The second photo is how it looks now the dead wood has been pruned out.

I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and put in something new for the Spring?

Many thanks
Hobbes

 

[tom24]

I'm no expert or gardener but I eventually just removed mine after being unable to do help it thrive.

Tom.

 

[Hobbes2]

I'm no expert or gardener but I eventually just removed mine after being unable to do help it thrive.

Tom.

Thanks for your reply Tom. From the searching I've done on the net, they do seem to be a species prone to disease. Maybe I'll just leave it this Spring/Summer, feed it up, and hope that maybe it'll burst back into life at some point....

Hobbes

 

[Isurus]

afraid this variety tends to be a bit of what my grandfather would call a "poor-doer". I'd put a bullet in it as it were and replace with something a bit more vigorous but then its not mine.

 

[Hobbes2]

afraid this variety tends to be a bit of what my grandfather would call a "poor-doer". I'd put a bullet in it as it were and replace with something a bit more vigorous but then its not mine.

Thanks for your reply Isurus. I think you're probably right but I'm not sure what else I can fit into that small space. We shall see....
Hobbes

 

[Hobbes2]

In case anyone is interested, I'm just back from the garden centre and have bought a dwarf Weeping Cherry to replace the Salix. I'm hoping it'll last longer than the 4-5 years of the Willow!
Hobbes