The weeping willow is a distinctive, beautiful tree that everyone knows and loves. A tree like the one pictured means something different for each person. It may simply be a beautiful landscape ornamental, it may be a tree forever bent in its thirst for water, or it may convey a feeling of sorrow and death. Its dramatic appearance has inspired poetry, music and art through the years. This tree continues to touch us in our individual ways.
The weeping willow tree, Salix babylonica, is native to northern China. Salix means to spring or leap in Latin, referring to fast growth. The name babylonica was erroneously given to this tree by the botanist Linnaeus when he saw the 
tree and thought it was the Biblical willow of Babylon. It arrived in Europe in the early 1700’s, after traveling the Silk Road trade route from China. Today, some experts believe the true species no longer exists and plants being sold today are hybrids or similar species.
Weeping willow trees have stout trunks with a broad, rounded crown. The bark is gray-black. Trees grow 3 to 4 feet per year to 50 or 60 feet, and have a spread as wide. Drooping branchlets are typically green or brown. Silvery green male and female catkins appear on separate trees in April to May, but are not showy. The narrow lanceolate leaves are up to 6 inches long, ¾ inches wide, and finely-toothed. Fall leaf color is greenish- yellow. Foliage remains a large part of the 
year, and it is said the leaves are “first to leaf and the last to drop”. The tree’s form is spectacular, with branchlets weeping to touch the ground or water around it.
Weeping willow trees love water, and when planted in areas that stay soggy they pull water from the ground making the area more usable. Trees planted too near houses can cause problems when roots searching for water reach up to 3 times the trees’ spread cracking driveways and foundations, and clogging septic systems. More water is required for nearby flower beds, gardens, and lawn. This tree grows better and looks most natural when planted by a pond or lake.
People have found many uses for willow trees, including weeping willows. In the 1800s, salicin was isolated from willow bark and used to develop aspirin. Willow wood is used to make many items including furniture and charcoal used by artists. Willow bark and limbs contain natural plant growth hormones which can be used to help root new cuttings of other trees just as it helps root its own broken branches and stems.
Because the willow tree uses so much water and droops toward the ground as if drawn to water, many people believe this tree’s natural inclination towards water makes it excellent to use in searching for water. Once, a friend came to my house to show me how he dowsed for water. He reached in the back of his pickup and grabbed a Y- shaped willow stick. He walked over my yard, holding the stick in the 
palms of his hands, and marked spots he felt indicated water. He said I had no underground streams in my front yard, but he had marked the water line coming into my house. He said people, like plants, vary in sensitivity to water. I still wonder about dowsing, because I have not been successful myself. However, what I saw that day and what he said is worth thinking about.
The weeping willow tree is a beautiful and graceful addition to the right kind of landscape. Wherever our attention is drawn to one, it leaves us with impressions no other tree can give. It is easy to see why this is the favorite tree of so many people.
