Did it because I could, now it's still growing

[IckyGuyBonsai]

Was on an arborist job site doing some trimming on a big willow about a month back and saw my boss taking a few smaller cuttings to "try and root em." He didn't want to take too thick of pieces because he wasn't confident they'd root, so I decided to show him just how much of weed willows are.

I proceeded to chainsaw off probably a 18" long section of branch that was a good 5-6" thick and brought it home. My girlfriend has learned to not ask too many questions anymore and didn't bat an eye when I stuck a log in an old coffee can full of water out back.






So here we are today. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but it's alive and growing so I'll keep it around. Threw it in a nursery pot for over winter, so figured I'd start a thread to see what comes of it.

 

[pandacular]

remarkable! do you plan to style this tree once it's established, or is the goal just to prove that a big cutting can take?

 

[Gabler]

What type of willow?

 

[thatdirtykid]

Absolute weeds. This thing apparently fell in 2008. The shoots on the left trunk have been pruned twice since I bought the house a year ago, they are 15' tall in this photo, cut back to the stump... The trunk at ground level is over 8' diameter

 

[MaciekA]

Yeah, welcome to the salicaceae family , where "ha ha this'll never work!" is always followed by "help, help, my suburban block has no water service for some reason and my bonsai garden is just one giant mess of roots exploding out of a yogurt container! call the news, call FEMA".

Absolutely, positively, definitely, super-duper do not try black cottonwood next. If you do we'll need to start a support group.

Back in january I rooted a 48 inch long branch that fell off the apex of a 100ft+ tall cottonwood during that intense windy winter weather we were having at the time. I had roots popping out of the bottom of the mesh in just a few weeks (note: used a 24/7 heating pad).

I need to start getting super picky when everything in this family of species will root / will survive, and when every single branch on the ground will root. It's not all worthwhile.

 

[Cajunrider]

Yeah, welcome to the salicaceae family , where "ha ha this'll never work!" is always followed by "help, help, my suburban block has no water service for some reason and my bonsai garden is just one giant mess of roots exploding out of a yogurt container! call the news, call FEMA".

Absolutely, positively, definitely, super-duper do not try black cottonwood next. If you do we'll need to start a support group.

Back in january I rooted a 48 inch long branch that fell off the apex of a 100ft+ tall cottonwood during that intense windy winter weather we were having at the time. I had roots popping out of the bottom of the mesh in just a few weeks (note: used a 24/7 heating pad).

I need to start getting super picky when everything in this family of species will root / will survive, and when every single branch on the ground will root. It's not all worthwhile.

This reminds me of what my friend did to the willows at his pond. He was pissed because they were growing on the bank of his pond, over taking the desired bald cypress. So one dry season he chainsawed a bunch of them. Then the rain came before he could remove all the cutdown trees. He wound up with 4 times the trees he had before the sawing when all the down branches and logs rooted.
We wound up pulling the willows up one by one with our big track hoe and take them straight to the burn pile right after pulling them up. Yet we still have a ton of them at the pond.

 

[Tieball]

Well done on that Willow cutting and rooting.

 

[Tieball]

I used to chop young willow branches into 2” pieces and just toss them into a bucket of water. I was not interested in rooting. The water, with the willow branches soaking in it, is an excellent addition for watering. The water contains a significant amount of growth nutrients.

 

[leatherback]

so, why did you take such a thin cutting?

 

[MaciekA]

so, why did you take such a thin cutting?

Theory: Great Value Classic Roast cans only get so big

 

[IckyGuyBonsai]

Woah, what a response to this piece of firewood

I'm pretty sure it's a black willow, though I don't know all my Salix, so take that with a grain of salt. Doubt this one will get a ton of attention from me styling wise besides hacking it back when it goes out of control. I just happened to get a chunk this thick because that's what was on top of the brush trailer, any bigger and I would've had to go for the family size classic roast.

As for why I did it? Right up in the thread title, just for shits and giggles to show my boss. Hoping eventually I can just pawn it off on him to deal with. Until then, it'll just take up space and water I suppose.

 

[leatherback]

Theory: Great Value Classic Roast cans only get so big

Fair Enough!

There are always buckets though!?

 

[Potawatomi13]

Was on an arborist job site doing some trimming on a big willow about a month back and saw my boss taking a few smaller cuttings to "try and root em." He didn't want to take too thick of pieces because he wasn't confident they'd root, so I decided to show him just how much of weed willows are.

I proceeded to chainsaw off probably a 18" long section of branch that was a good 5-6" thick and brought it home. My girlfriend has learned to not ask too many questions anymore and didn't bat an eye when I stuck a log in an old coffee can full of water out back.

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So here we are today. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but it's alive and growing so I'll keep it around. Threw it in a nursery pot for over winter, so figured I'd start a thread to see what comes of it.

Make surprise gift to boss and AMAZE with personal miraculous horticultural skill.