White Willow (Salix alba) bare root tree saplings/hedge plants

Salix alba (white willow) long slim leaves

Willow - white (Salix alba)

£1.49

10% off Orders over £1000+VAT

15% off Orders over £2000+VAT

Minimum order value (all plants) is £300+VAT

Free Delivery over £300+VAT excl Highlands and Islands

Please order plants in multiples of 25

White willow (Salix alba) is

- Suitable as a woodland tree or urban tree

- Non-native

- Deciduous

- Good in wet areas

- Safe to plant near livestock (non-toxic)

Grown on our farm in Herefordshire. Buy with confidence - read our customer reviews.

The specifications shown are our normal range but we often have additional options. If there is something that you are looking for, it's often worth contacting us.

Please contact us if you would prefer to order on the phone or have any questions or to discuss a discount for larger quantities.

Our range of White willow (Salix alba) bare root plants

We have bare root Salix alba plants in several sizes. The 1+0 specification are seedlings (often called whips) which are grown from hardwood cuttings (rather than from seed as are most bare root plants), which are planted in spring and are sold during the following November to April months ie they are one year old. The cuttings are taken from top quality mother plants kept in stock beds.

White Willow (Salix alba) Summary

White willow is an imposing beautiful tree. It is the largest willow species with pale coloured foliage generally found and planted in wet ground. The pale colour comes from the white felted undersides to the leaves.

Whilst not the “weeping willow” which is a completely different variety (Salix babylonica or Salix sepulcralis Chrysocoma neither of which we sell but White willow does also have a weeping habit. The bark has historically been used for medicinal purposes as an aspirin alternative. Stems have a weeping habit and are flexible. White willow is not a particularly long living tree – about 30 years would be the norm. It is often pollarded at about 6-8ft from the ground (above the height of browsing animals) to promote dense, vigorous new growth. This is a sustainable practise (and an ancient one) which prevents trees splitting under their own weight, stabilises river banks and provides a dense habitat for birds, insects and mammals.

Soil and Situation

White willow does best planted in a wet situation, on the bank of a stream or river or in very wet ground but will grow in drier soils. They grow well in acid, neutral or alkaline soil as long as it is deep and loamy and they like full sun or pretty much full sun.

Leaves, flowers and fruits

The alternate leaves are long (up to 10cm) and narrow (up to 1.5cm), white felted underneath and with finely serrated margins. The greyish/yellow catkins (male and female on the same tree) are pollinated by insects and the female catkins become longer and develop white downy capsules which are carried on the wind.

Eventual height and growth rate

Eventual height of white willow is up to 30m and the growth rate is fast. These trees are often pollarded - see the Summary section above.

This species belongs to the Salicaceae family.

Free Delivery

For deliveries of orders over £300 + VAT, (which is our minimum order value) we have free delivery to all mainland areas nationwide. If you are in the Scottish Highlands or any of the Islands, please email us or call us and we will quote you a delivery charge which we will subsidise.

All orders are despatched on pallets and will be delivered to the kerbside. We will email you to tell you when your order has been despatched and that email will contain a link so that you can track your delivery.

You can request a specific delivery date when you place your order and we will do our very best to accommodate that date but cannot be held responsible if we do not meet it.

Collections from Ross-on-Wye

You can collect your plants by arrangement with our office team. Please ring us on 01989 552028 to agree a collection date. The postcode for collections is HR9 7TF.

As a trade nursery, we normally despatch stock unbagged (packed horizontally on pallets) but we can offer two bagging options.

Bagging Options

We have two options for despatching plants in bags (you do not need to have them bagged but it is advisable if there is any delay in planting and where you have large quantities, delay in planting some is inevitable).

- Very heavy duty black bags - normally used by farmers, landowners, landscapers etc

- Co-extruded bags which are white on the outside, to reflect sunlight, and black inside, to retain moisture on the roots - normally used by foresters.

In both cases, there is a considerable labour cost to us in putting stock into bags, and then the air in the bags takes up a considerable amount of space on the pallet which means that we get many fewer plants onto a pallet compared with unbagged stock eg for 1+0 seedlings instead of approx. 10,000 plants per pallet of unbagged stock, we'd only get approx. 5,000 plants per pallet if they are bagged. There's also a significant labour cost in putting plants into bags compared with loose packing on a pallet (which is the normal method for nursery to nursery sales). Given that we pay the delivery cost on most orders, supplying stock in bags is a significant extra cost for us for some customers and hence we make a modest charge.

You can specifically request black or white bags on the website after you add plants to your shopping basket. Here is a link to the page Bagging Service for bare root plants for farms and forestry – rjtreesandhedging. Please order the same quantity as the number of plants you are buying - the pricing for bagging is per plant rather than per bag.