I Think I Made A Pruning Boo Boo

Question

I live on the island of Kyushu Japan and my family just bought a home. I have been watching Japanese cut back trees for 3 years, they cut back a lot, but never thought about the season too much. My weeping willow seemed to be suffering from caterpillars and from weight. So i decided to cut about 1/5 of the tree, fairly large branches. It is August but will start to get a little cold in November. It is never very cold here. My husband is very worried. He feels like I over cut, and I didn’t know I was supposed to do it in winter, he is very upset…I saw my neighbor cutting back his other types of trees today because it was cloudy. But alas… Is there hope? how long will it take for new growth? I think it’s still pretty but my husband is a bit upset and I just want an expert’s opinion to help him relax. I’m also worried now too honestly. You can use this question for your site with all the nitty gritty details, but please send me a private email too!!

Answer 1

Typically, any larger cuts for Willows will be done during dormancy. This prevents infection from open wounds, since they tend to live in wet soils where the microbes will live, as well.

This isn't a death sentence, but it has the potential to be.

Make sure to use fungicides as a preventative, as well as biofungicides to keep the soil full of beneficial microbes.

Here are some articles that will help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/willow/weeping-willow-pruning.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/using-fungicides-in-garden.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/organic/biofungicide-information.htm