ANY SUGGESTIONS PLEASE! I have purchased Hakuro Nishiki Willows to plant along the street side of my corner lot as a privacy fence. I already have several apple trees along the road about 12'-25' feet apart. I have no idea how to arrange and space the willows. The trunks of the apple trees are at the closest point to the road allowed by the town. Should I just fill in the gaps between the trees? If I planted the willows continuously to form a solid hedge, the apple trees would be outside my yard and I'm not sure how that would look??? This does seem like a silly question, but I'm just not sure how this arrangement will look aesthetically or effectively as a fencing option. I do not necessarily need a highly manicured super dense hedge. I'm also concerned that where the trees are planted if I plant the willow in the same line as the trees, that they will grow too far out toward the road. Thank you for any suggestions! I am completely clueless about landscaping! And the information I'm finding about the size of the willows is very varied. Also, how wide and tall can I expect the dappled willows to grow this first season?? Thank you!

They should grow about 12 to 18 inches per year. The mature height might be about 10 feet and you can prune them a bit shorter, no problem. They are a good choice as they will not grow tall enough to interfere with power lines. If your apple trees are 12 to 25 feet apart, you should be able to plant the 3 to 5 willows in between to achieve a decent screening result.

Good luck.

I wouldn't put the willows in a straight line. You can stagger them between the apples and still get the same 'wall of willows' you are seeking.

According to Monrovia this willow "Reaches 15 to 20 ft. tall and wide; maintain at 6 to 10 ft. with pruning" and I can believe it having planted some as a screen myself. Two years after planting they already overhung the adjacent footpath and were taller than me and had to be trimmed back, but they might be less enthusiastic in a drier spot.

Thank you for the info! I'm so happy to hear that in only two years they would provide privacy. Hopefully mine do well, but not too well lol. How far apart would you plant them????? SUE, how far apart did you plant yours? also have about 7 chinese silver grass miscanthus and 5 different sized young burning bush. Would you mix these 3 or stay consistent with the willow? It would be more cost efficient as I have more willows I would need to buy and the grasses would look pretty even in late fall when the willow is left with red branches but I'm not sure how fast or much the grass and burning bush would grow in my zone or how to arrange. Thanks again everyone!

I think they are about six or eight feet apart but I will check next week as I'm not at that location right now. We did have an ornamental grass in between each willow the first year but it was an annual one although big. By the next year the willows had grown together, although not a dense screen at this point but tall and wide (until they were cut back last fall). They're in a rather damp site, hence the choice of willows. I'm not sure how I would arrange what you have without seeing the site. Maybe plant them in small groups of each? If they're all in pots what I would do is set them out still in the pots and switch them around until you find an arrangement that you like, then plant them.

Great info - thank you!