my wife and i always loved weeping willow trees while i was digging my pond i always in-visioned looking across the pond and seeing the reflection of a ww tree
Last week my local Agway had just received a shipment of trees. sure enough they had a few verities of ww trees.
I purchased two of them,a golden and a Wisconsin.
My concern is, while waiting for the pond to fill I'm seeing that water is a bit more scarce then i would like.
I did some research (on pond boss) and it seems that ww trees suck up quite a bite of water.
my question is how much water can a tree possibly use
if planted on the edge of the bank? (not near the dam)

Or should i set it back above a small wet spot?
i tried to add a few pictures

I have a big one next to my trout pond and you can see the pink roots in the water. That said, I haven't noticed much of a difference in the pond level even when I don't run well water through the pond.

The water has allowed it to grow big and fast. In just three years the trunk is probably 16 inches in diameter and it's as high as my log home now despite the promises, "it won't get very big."

My mother likes these trees and asked me if she could plant it there. I said O.K. but I will tell you they are a mess. Constantly littering the ground and water with small branches.

On a funny note my dad was mowing for me under the tree that had long branches almost to the ground. One took a hold of him and pulled him off the mower. He started trimming branches much to my mother's objection.

I like to kid my mom that some day when she passes I'm going out there with a chain saw. I even imitate the sound of the saw to her. She told me if I do she'll haunt me.

Note: My parents live in an apartment above my garage when they are not in Florida. My dad enjoys cutting the grass and doing things around the property.

In the east where we are less drought prone, I think they are less of an issue. I love the way they look. One of my favorite trout streams is lined by them. It makes a gorgeous setting...

To each his own. I find them rather creepy looking as they seem to be common in cemeteries around here.

Willows and Cottonwoods can suck up significant water - if you're in a drought prone area, might want to rethink or keep their numbers low. Considering you're in NY, precipitation isn't probably much of a concern.

I think they propagrate very easily like other willows and cottonwoods and you might be fighting saplings the rest of your life around the margin of the pond - something to consider.

I think they are pretty trees - we used to swing on the branches like vines over a creek in our neighborhood - lots of good memories.

I'm not sure they seed or reproduce easly I have been looking around mature ww trees trying to find saplings for over a year,i couldn't find a single one
So i broke down and bought two at 50 bucks each
I'm glad they grow quickly
im not to worried about the mess the other side of the pond will be kept natural (no lawn)
I may set the trees back a bit so they don't hang to far into the water

Take a willow branch, cut it off the tree. Moisten it, and stick it in moist soil. It'll sprout roots and grow.

Around here, if you have a wet area, plant a few willow trees and there will be no more surface water.....

I have many weeping willows on my property all propagated from one I bought. I just cut off 12 to 18 inch twigs about 1/8 inch dia., take a knife and scrape off half of the bark to the green pulp and stick them in the pond. They will root and leaf. Then transplant.

orgeranyc, you can simply take a branch of one and stick it into some mud. It will sprout roots and grow! Willows propagate by dropping branches in creeks and rivers where the branches float to shore and take root.

If you have plenty of water coming in, don't worry too much about the willow. I would keep it several feet from the bank so that most "deposits" don't wind up in the water.

I've wanted one also, but I am sticking to birch varieties instead. They suck up less water, and the white tree bark is a nice contrast. You can keep weeping birch, but they are not nearly as messy.

Can I borrow your dad for a couple years?

Then what would I do?

We have willows in our newest pond because part of the area that we covered up always stayed wet. They are a bunch of four or five.

I don't like them. Around my area, when I see willows and cottonwoods next to the road, it is a sure bet that, at one time, there was a stock tank there. Those 2 trees pretty well kill them.

About 20 years ago, I was walking through my place in an area where I hadn't actually been. I saw a willow through the oaks and cedars. Yep, it was a dead, silted in pond.

orgeranyc...wow that's a pretty spot you have
love the trees and the rock ledge along your pond
like to see some spring pics down the line

We had a 75' - 50" diameter hybrid poplar (product of the seventies my house was built in) about 20' off of our natural grade pond. After completing our pond we were shocked at how our water line would only come up about 6' (12-13') at the full level. After a while seasonal rain fall and pump support would get us to about 75" full then it would drop crazy quick to a levle about 6' below the full point.

In short order we traced the quick drop to the level we were guessing the main root ball of this tree to be. Sure enough we fell that monster in the mid winter of 2011 and the pond continued to fill and never looked back. The amount that water sucker took up in a day would make you think it was a magic trick if you did not see it for yourself. My best advise for mid to dry summers of the Northern Midwest would be to be very careful about the trees you place or in my case leave anywhere near your naturally clay lined ponds. Glad to have that water sucker gone. Good ridence...

In my case I wouldn't mind a tree that sucks up a lot of water next to my trout pond as the less overflow that ends up in the highway ditch the better. Just don't like to attract a lot of attention.

Just haven't seen the big Weeping Willow suck a lot of water yet even when I wasn't running the well pump for a couple of years.

Sorry, I want to know,does the weeping willow trees be beautiful when it grow up?

Welcome to Pond Boss richelle. They are beautiful trees but branches are weak sometimes and the tree need some care (trim jobs) to be able to cut grass around them.

But beware...Its hard to kill a willow tree. They're a tough species. Dang near like bamboo plants and certain types of algae.

Well since im "water supply challenged" I may return the willow trees I purchased from agway

Found this on an aquaponics website. Interesting use of willow as both a surface area for bacteria in a biofilter and it grows roots that utilize ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates in the water.

Willow chips might work fine and would be free. I read a study about willow chips used to bio-filter dump pits waste waters. They build 6m high tower frame and filled it with willow chips and pump the water on top of it. Willow chips not only functioned as a growing surface for bacteria they also started to grow roots and shoots and thus reduced nutrition levels. (Really pretty green tower actually). In aquaponic set-up you could use dried (dead) willow so it won't grow.