24 Hybrid Willow Trees. Austree Grows 12 Foot 1st Season. Create Instant Privacy Fence Hedge

UPDATE #2 - FIVE YEARS LATER: They look all right, not the prettiest, but in my attached photo, this is where they are after 5 years. The trunks don't get very thick, and I imagine they'd be easy to chop down if you're tired of them or want a change. They do offer good shade in the summertime, helping to keep our master bedroom cool. I just wish they grew a bit thicker. (Photo taken in early May)I was sent 24 cuttings, and 23 are alive and well! I live in Seattle. I planted these around February 25, 2020, after just under 2 weeks of rooting in water. I did not wait until the roots got very long. As soon as they started poking out of the cuttings (they'll look like little white dots), I planted them directly in the soil behind my house, 2 feet apart because I want a very dense privacy screen. Now, this is important: WATER THEM!!!!! These WILL survive mild frosts, and there were nights here that got down to 30 F. How did they survive? Because I watered them. When you water the cuttings, the damp soil acts as an insulator and will protect the growing roots against frosty nights, and, possibly one hard freeze (though be careful of too many of the hard freezes). So water, water, water them! I watered each cutting about 20 seconds, or until I felt the soil was nice and saturated. They are in an area where it's just the natural soil and wood mulch on top. Two of them I planted directly in my grass lawn, and they are also thriving. DO NOT--are you reading this?--DO NOT use any fertilizers or soil amendments. It's unnecessary and can hurt your trees. Just use plain ol' soil from your ground. And I would recommend planting them where there is partial sunlight. Now that the sun is gracing us more with her presence here in Seattle, my cuttings have just sprouted some leaves. They haven't grown quite upwards yet, but I expect they will, and I WILL come back here to update and post photos. And for those of you wondering about the root system of these trees, these are NON-invasive. They will not spread throughout your yard, or your neighbor's yard like bamboo.

The ad showed many roots, long and growing and many leaves. I got sticks. Almost couldn't distinguish which side as up. No leaves of any kind. Some sticks had very minuscule roots but mostly just sticks. We'll see. If they grow, I update this rating but it will still not be much better. I expect if their honest, they'll replace these sticks with viable plants as advertised. I have them soaking in plastic cups of water in my garage for now until they seem to be acclimated to southern Nevada weather. We'll see. I'll sure let you know.Getting worse every day. I just had a bad batch like 75% of others. The owner wrote spectacular review for their progress but they may have been delusional. After 2 weeks I gave up with 100% failure rate. After 3 weeks last picture I took had no sign of roots or leaves. Seller said they would not pay for return. They paid.

These trees are growing great. They sprouted right away in water. I transferred them to pots when they got fairly big. Be careful not to put pots in full sun outside. Put them in a mostly shady place outside at first if you started them in the house. Also, it takes them several days for them to adjust to being transferred from water to soil. Shifting them to full sun when they are not used to it, can overwhelm them too. Of course it was over 90F every day after I set them outside. I watered them twice daily after transferring them to pots. First, they had wilted after transferring to pots and then they perked up and are growing great. We are having a drought right now. I may try to winter them in pots and then, plant in spring. They will be needing lots of water to continue grow well outside. If the drought continues, I think it will be too dry to plant them outside in the soil. There's 24 plants. I would be watering my yard for hours.I am very happy with these trees. Just be careful when you handle them when they first sprout. Their roots and leaves are very fine at first. If you bump them or water them them under a high pressure faucet, you can knock the tiny roots and leaves off. Once they get bigger, they get stronger.I would say if people had problems with the cuttings, maybe the people are not familiar with caring for cuttings. I found the tree cuttings did need much more care than like houseplant cuttings like spider plants. The willow cuttings needed a lot of love and gentle care and much watering to grow well. Also, be careful if you have a lot of pests outside. Insects loved the water I was spraying to water my trees and decided to start eating their leaves. You may need some sort of gentle insecticide. I also worry about deer and rabbits.Once this drought is over, I have a nice patch of land at the rear of my property to plant them that is normally moist. I am looking forward to watching them grow in my yard.

I was so excited to get these and followed the directions to the letter. Within a week we had roots, I transferred them to clear cups they took off, it was really promising. After a few weeks in cups and after frost had past I planted them in their forever homes. The sellers were kind enough to send 27 when I had ordered 24, but sadly I just pulled out 9 that didn't make it. I will probably re-order more because, well, 16 trees at this price is still a steal, and now I have gaps along the fence-line for the ones that didn't make it. Otherwise, great value for the money, and the ones that are doing well are really doing well.