Pruning The Salix' Yelverton' For The Return Of Winter Colour

The four Salix 'Yelverton' were planted out in the college gardens on the 28th November 2013, see blog entry 'Salix alba ssp. vitellina Yelverton', to provide rich bronze-red stems in the winter. These colours were seen in their first winter, 2013-14, but during the last winter 2014-15, their second winter, the colour was a much weaker yellow-green.

In order for the rich red-bronze to return Simon made the rather brave decision to prune the trees heavily, removing their top growth, the crown, and shortening all the remaining stems

By the time Simon, Ali and Danny had finished pruning only the trunks remained. This heavy pruning will cause the trees to produce a mass of new growth from the top, new, young bronze-red stems for next winter.