Weeping willows

Loves_lorries

Planted ten weeping willows in paddock around my house last October, they are doing well but allowed a farmer to put sheep in to graze the one acre paddock as it was growing wild.

The sheep ate the leaves of some of the branches so I bought post and rail and fenced around each tree ( 500 euro cost in total).

Question is, weeping willows are a very droopy tree, branches hang low so while the trunk of the trees is now protected, will the sheep always be a threat to the trees, I know I can just leave the field empty but getting it cut several times per year would be expensive and the field would never really look clean.

looksee

Have you ever seen on old park land where there are cattle and trees in the same area, how the tree branches all stop short of the ground by the height of a cow's head? You will end up with weeping willows with pudding basin hair cuts! Not much you can do about it really other than don't put sheep in, or surround the existing fence with another fence a few meters out. Ten weeping willows in one area is a lot - they do grow very big eventually and will shade off a lot of your paddock.

standardg60

They won't be any threat at all if they're the large growing weeping willows rather than the miniature ones as the trees will grow well beyond their reach, and the sheep will actually keep the canopy raised enough to allow the grass to grow underneath.

Loves_lorries

standardg60 wrote: »

They won't be any threat at all if they're the large growing weeping willows rather than the miniature ones as the trees will grow well beyond their reach, and the sheep will actually keep the canopy raised enough to allow the grass to grow underneath.

Yes but several years before trees are large enough for branches to be out of reach of sheep?, thought the branches droop down to the ground regardless of the span of the tree?

Maybe I've no choice but just get it cut a few times per year for now.

New Home

The sheep may very likely eat the branches, that's why they'd be raised off the ground.

Loves_lorries

Looks like I've wasted 500 quid on fencing them off

New Home

I don't think you've wasted your money - they may be able to reach the branches, but they won't be able to get to the trunk and its bark.

Loves_lorries

New Home wrote: »

I don't think you've wasted your money - they may be able to reach the branches, but they won't be able to get to the trunk and its bark.

That's correct new home, they only ate the leaves off one branch, I actually put sheep wire around four corner stakes first a couple of months ago but its hard to strain wire in that kind of angle so the little critters managed to loosen the wire enough to mole in underneath, sheep wire roll was 100 euro but the stakes were fine for the treated railing I nailed to stakes afterwards so trunk and base of trees are dead safe now, I suspect most trees would be fine in this circumstance but the weeping willows are so low hanging, they are vulnerable to grazer creatures.

Would the sheep eating the branches not ruin them to the point of making a complete mess of the whole site?

A paddock with a house is a nuisance.

New Home

To quote Fr Jack... "Ah fekk!"

looksee

Rather than trying to protect the individual trees, which I guess are round the edge of the paddock? could you not create a 'pen' in the rest of the paddock with an electric fence and keep them in until the trees are tall enough to actually have branches. Willow grows pretty fast, you are maybe talking about 4 or 5 years.

Loves_lorries

looksee wrote: »

Rather than trying to protect the individual trees, which I guess are round the edge of the paddock? could you not create a 'pen' in the rest of the paddock with an electric fence and keep them in until the trees are tall enough to actually have branches. Willow grows pretty fast, you are maybe talking about 4 or 5 years.

Actually I dotted the trees around the paddock, the field is behind the house

macraignil

Loves_lorries wrote: »

New Home wrote: »

I don't think you've wasted your money - they may be able to reach the branches, but they won't be able to get to the trunk and its bark.

That's correct new home, they only ate the leaves off one branch, I actually put sheep wire around four corner stakes first a couple of months ago but its hard to strain wire in that kind of angle so the little critters managed to loosen the wire enough to mole in underneath, sheep wire roll was 100 euro but the stakes were fine for the treated railing I nailed to stakes afterwards so trunk and base of trees are dead safe now, I suspect most trees would be fine in this circumstance but the weeping willows are so low hanging, they are vulnerable to grazer creatures.

Would the sheep eating the branches not ruin them to the point of making a complete mess of the whole site?

A paddock with a house is a nuisance.

The branches having their dropping tips nibbled by sheep should cause very little problem for the trees if you have protected the main trunk with your fencing. Weeping willows also look fine when they drop only part of the way to the ground. I don't see why loosing a few leaves should be so upsetting.

Loves_lorries

macraignil wrote: »

The branches having their dropping tips nibbled by sheep should cause very little problem for the trees if you have protected the main trunk with your fencing. Weeping willows also look fine when they drop only part of the way to the ground. I don't see why loosing a few leaves should be so upsetting.

It's not upsetting, I just always consider worst case scenario and have no experience of weeping willows.

IrishZeus

Weeping willows are also very hardy and can be pruned aggressively. (Although this would generally be done during winter months).

I don’t believe the sheep eating some of the low hanging leaves/shoots will cause any sort of long term damage at all. Once the trunk is protected, you should see steady regular growth and with 3-5 years, they will mostly be out of reach.