weeping willow too weak to stand

[capriow]

My weeping willow is about 12 feet tall. I have to support it because the trunk will fall right over. is this normal? What can I do to strenghten it?

[smudge]

It shouldn't really need supporting at this stage & sounds to me as thought it wasn't planted deep enough in the first place. Shame you can't give it a good trim & re-plant it, but the roots would be far too big for that now. P.S. We planted a weeping willow in our last garden, which grew to a good height without any problems at all.

[capriow]

do you think it will eventually get strong, or should i rip it out?

[Drewhound]

It should have grown strong enough roots to hold itself up by now. It may have been too well staked when it was young or more likely there is some soil problem. Imo it won't get any better, if you support it it won't grow the roots it needs so it's a catch 22 I'm afraid

[smudge]

Personally if it were me, rather than lose the tree, I would: prune the top reducing some of the bulk, see how far out the roots have grown, if not too far, dig up & re-plant using some good nutrients around the base. You never know, you may see some new buds next year! If you were conidering ripping it up anyway, you have nothing to lose. Good luck capriow!

[smudge]

*considering