Is my tree dying?

[WhoAteAllTheDinosaurs]

I have a twisted willow tree in my garden, it's approximately 10-11 years old, planted from a cutting.
We love it, the birds love it. Especially as their bird feeders are in it.
But I went out to get the washing in, and it seems to suddenly be dying? Whilst there were lots of leaves on it, they all seem to be turning brown and dying and some of the smaller branches are breaking off. There are still some green leaves, but only at the top.
What do we do? I love my garden, but I don't know masses about gardening and I'm not sure what to do with this 😔

Hello WhoAteAllTheDinosaurs,

Sadly your twisted willow does not look in the best of health.

Willows love water and with hot summers such as 2022 when we experienced high temperatures trees particularly do suffer from heat stress. This is often not evident immediately and signs of dieback to the twigs and branches will not be visible until the following year or couple of years particularly when the come in to leaf in the spring.

I would remove it along with the roots to prevent honey fungus and treat yourself to a new one. You could also consider the corkscrew hazel there is a nice purple one out there.

I hope the above helps

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener

Thanks so much for replying, that's very helpful if not the news I would have preferred!
Poor willow 😔

It could just be frost damaged leaves, I'd not recommend just digging it up from one not clear photo. That's not very 'sustainable' at all.

I'd just keep an eye on it, many trees have had their leaves shrivelled due to the late cold wind and frosts this spring.

If it has growth at the top it is still alive, so a bit of careful pruning can regenerate lower down so give it some time, and have a better look in 6 weeks or so.

I had a weeping birch so this. It became very forlorn and looked like it was on its way out.

It was left but given water daily, slowly through the day with a hosepipe running next to it and it recovered.

My weeping cherry blossom has done exactly the same this year and I'm gutted! I'm going to try loads of water to see if it recovers

Ok well that all sounds a bit more hopeful! I will give it lots of water and keep my fingers crossed.

When you say careful pruning, how much and where would you prune it? (Am very much a novice at gardening, though I do love it).

I can try to get some better pictures if that would be helpful?

Hello again WhoAteAllTheDinosaurs,

If those twigs without leaves are brittle and they feel dry they are without doubt dead. From your picture it looks like more than half of the twigs are absent of leaves I think it does not look good for your lovely tree. You could leave it this growing season and if it does not put out much more growth by the autumn you may consider replacing it.

You can also do the thumbnail test on a variety of twigs and branches to identify what is alive or dead. Scrape back a small area of the bark with your thumbnail and if the tissue under the bark is green it is alive if it is not the twig or branch is read.

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener

Well, in case anyone is interested, my tree seemed to rally a bit - quite a bit of new growth of leaves on the dead branches, and we were relatively hopeful. Got a local tree person round, who said to wait and see what happened.

Sadly, we went away for a week, and when we got back all that new growth had died off so I think it's had it, unfortunately.

Now thinking we'll leave the trunk and some bits of the main branches as a sort of natural bird feeding station, maybe grow something flowering up the trunk too. Oh well, poor tree!

We'll look at getting a replacement small tree of some kind in time, maybe a crab apple or something 🤔

We'll look at getting a replacement small tree of some kind in time, maybe a crab apple or something Remember every death is a planting opportunity. Enjoy choosing!

Hello again WhoAteAllTheDinosaurs,

I was interested to read your update. A crab apple sounds like a great choice eye catching fruits and leaf colour in the autumn plus scented blossom in the spring. Another one to think about is a Rowan tree also known as Mountain Ash.

Happy gardening
TheSustainableGardener