By Blencowe
South Yorkshire,
United Kingdom 
i have a small Kilmarnock willow in a very large pot for about 5 years,for the first two yrs it was fine then for two years it was ravaged by rust .Someone told me that as it was a grafted tree it was prone to it every year and as i had tried various remedies to no avail,i should just ,I Idiscard it I decided tocut every branch back to about4ins ,meaning to just use it for hanging my bird feeders and garden lights on.This year it has come back with a vengeance and not a sign of rust on any leaf(which took a hour to inspect) My question,do i cut it back the same this year and when
9 Aug, 2010
Answers
thanks noseypotter,will follow your instructions.
12 Aug, 2010
your more than welcome blen
12 Aug, 2010
Previous question
i would keep the top small so it can stay in the pot being a potentioly large tree .if its grafted like you say i wonder if youve cut the grafted plant right of the root stock and its that that is comming back leaps and bounds . what you need to look into is bonzai trees which is basicly what your doing .a willow can be grown from just a branch laying on wet ground so it can handle being cut right back any time but the best time is early spring so it can recover easier .
9 Aug, 2010