Planting a desert willow tree can be quite a gardening experience for those who want to try a hand at planting trees. Learn how to take care of a desert willow tree and maintain it, to have it blooming and growing well throughout the year.
Desert willow trees are tall, attractive and easy to take care of, once you learn the ins and outs of how to care for one. Large and imposing in its stature, this deciduous tree originates from the Southern parts of the United States, where it grows in large clusters. The desert willow tree or Chilopsis linearis is no ordinary tree, and has pretty flowers that resemble bell flowers with its hollow, bell-like shape.
It grows well during the spring and summer time, being a desert tree to begin with, where the tree calls for special attention once it starts to take root. The colors of the flowers transform its bleak appearance into one that is eye-catching, ranging from purples and yellows, to pinks and whites. This tree does well for those who have large sunny backyards or front yards, where there is enough room for this tree to thrive and grow, making any garden look impressive. These are known to be drought-tolerant trees and resistant to cold weather, where it can protect areas from erosion-harm and floods.
Growth of a Desert Willow Tree
These trees are a cinch to grow and do not require painstaking methods to see them take root. The best time to see the tree in blossom is between April and August. It can reach a towering height of 25 feet in a few years provided that owners take care of this beautiful tree. There are two ways to plant the tree, one is through the seeds and the other is by purchasing a miniature plant version of it through a nursery that specially grows such trees.
The entire process of planting the tree should be followed right down to a tee, with important things on hand like fertilizer, back-fill, organic matter, gardening tools and so on.
How to Take Care of a Desert Willow Tree
Now that you have your tree growing successfully from the ground up, it is now time to understand how caring for this tree is a priority that needs to be tended to. Be sure to have the necessary gardening tools that will help you take care of your tree. Things you’ll need in your garden tools collection are pruners and a pruning saw.
When the tree is still growing in size and girth, it is important to trim and keep it free from dead twigs and weak branches, using what is known as loppers while the tree is still short and young.
Pruning
The canopy of a full-grown tree needs to be trimmed down slightly, giving the branches enough room to allow flowers to bloom freely while encouraging new ones. Snip off branches and twigs like I said (using the pruners), that show signs of decay or weakness, since this can spread like wildfire and lead to the state of the tree going bad. Get rid of jutting limbs at the bottom of the tree, keeping only a few around that area to promote stem growth. During the winter, check the tree for any diseases which is not common but still a situation that can occur.
Watering the Tree
During the springtime and summer season, it is important to water the plant monthly and then bring it down to every 6 weeks once the winter season rolls in. I’m sure you know that these desert trees cannot have long-standing water collecting at the base of their roots, since they do just fine with the adequate amount of water that it is supplied now and then. Sunlight has to be of optimum availability, seeing that these desert trees are exposed to the sun all day, with no shade whatsoever to obstruct that much-needed sunlight. Check the root area for any signs of decay, and apply fast draining soil to this area to suck away any moisture that is overly present around the root section.
Promoting Tree Growth
If you’d like to have more than one desert willow tree in your backward, that is if you can accommodate another, then cut off a branch from the tree and bury it so that it can take root gradually. The best time to grow these trees is in the fall, where the winter is meant for the roots to grow better and maintain their outreach as they mature.
For a Straighter Trunk
Desert willow trees tend to slump when they grow, giving them a very slouchy appearance that you may not like as the tree matures. Build around the trunk a structure that will help straighten the tree as it grows, like wooden planks or tying them down with ropes to help it grow upright and not in an arch-like manner. Because extreme winds can prevail in areas unexpectedly or because they’re prone to such weather conditions, it is important to stake a tree. This means that you’ll have to find a kind of material to use, be it cloth or a kind of rope to help it stay put during windy weather. This is by securing the tree’s bark and then driving two stakes into the ground opposite both ends of the tree at a right angle towards the wind direction.
These guidelines aren’t all that hard to stick by provided that they have two main factors in your favor, one being ample sunlight and the other being a spacious backyard / front yard. Over time you will come to familiarize yourself with the way desert willow trees grow and behave, and accordingly you will know what is needed to take care of them.