Not the plant you're looking for? Search over 300,000 plants

Salix repens 'Iona Dwarf Form'
  • RHS Plants for pollinators

A dwarf, deciduous shrub, usually no more than 30cm high, with spreading stems and narrowly oval, grey-green leaves with silvery undersides. Silvery catkins are produced just before or alongside the leaves in spring, turning yellow as they mature. Sometimes grafted as a standard to create a small weeping tree

Synonyms
Salix repens 'Iona Dwarf Form'
Size
Ultimate height
0.1–0.5 metres
Time to ultimate height
2–5 years
Ultimate spread
0.1–0.5 metres
Growing conditions
Clay
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained
pH
Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Yellow Grey Silver Green
Summer Grey Silver Green
Autumn Grey Silver Green
Winter
Position
  • Full sun
Aspect

East–facing or South–facing or West–facing

Exposure
Exposed or Sheltered
Hardiness
H6
Botanical details
Family
Salicaceae
Native to GB / Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Spreading branched, Pendulous weeping
Genus

Salix are deciduous shrubs and trees of diverse habit, with simple leaves and tiny flowers in catkins, male and female usually on separate plants. Some are valued for their brightly coloured winter shoots, others for their foliage or showy male catkins

Name status

Accepted

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow in any deep, moist but well-drained soil in full sun. Avoid shallow chalk soil

Propagation

Propagate by softwood cuttings in early summer or hardwood cuttings in winter

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Coastal
  • Cottage and informal garden
  • Rock garden
  • Wildlife gardens
Pruning

Pruning group 7, every two or three years in March, for best show of catkins

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, caterpillars, willow leaf beetle, sawflies and willow scale insects

Diseases

May be susceptible to willow anthracnose, honey fungus and rust diseases

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.