Other Names:  Richardson's Willow

Description:

A stunning tall accent shrub featuring powdery silvery blue-green foliage and fuzzy silver stems all summer long; an excellent choice for foliage color contrast in the landscape, extremely adaptable and very hardy

Ornamental Features

Woolly Willow has attractive bluish-green foliage with silver veins on a plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. The fuzzy narrow leaves are highly ornamental but do not develop any appreciable fall color. The rough brick red bark and silver branches add an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Woolly Willow is an open multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Woolly Willow is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Woolly Willow will grow to be about 12 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It is an amazingly adaptable plant, tolerating both dry conditions and even some standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for clay, alkaline soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This species is native to parts of North America.