Take Control of Willows and Make Them Behave : The Tree in Little Tokyo’s James Irvine Garden Is Good Example of How Proper Care Prevents Trouble

The serene, 8,500-square-foot James Irvine Garden, next to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles, may seem at first to be a mirage. It’s hard to imagine so restful a site in downtown Los Angeles, yet there it is in the middle of Little Tokyo.

A stream wends down the slope through azaleas, camellias, bamboos and trees, and noise and signs of the city disappear the farther down the path you walk. Near the bottom of the garden, by the arching wooden bridge that crosses the stream, a Hankow willow (also known as a corkscrew willow) crops up out of the rocks.

Willows are associated with spring, according to the garden’s landscape architect, Takeo Uesugi, and in his design, which follows many of the concepts used in traditional Japanese gardens, Uesugi tried to represent each of the four seasons.

“All trees represent different seasons,” he says, and the Hankow willow ( Salix matsudana “Tortuosa”) was meant to symbolize newness, the sunrise, its new, green leaves, the east (west is symbolized by the color white, north by black, south by red).

The Hankow willow is worth seeing in all of its seasons. Its leaves look as though they have been curled into ringlets, and when they drop off for the winter, the tree’s branches and its trunk are revealed to be twisted, contorted, almost writhing. (These are the branches you see in flower arrangements.) According to Uesugi, this type of willow can grow 25 to 30 feet; at the Japanese garden, its size is controlled by its trimming schedule.

Like most trees, willows should be assigned to a spot where they can be used to good advantage and not used where they can cause trouble. Dale Kolaczkowski of Stallings Ranch Nursery says willows are known for their aggressiveness, messiness and their propensity to attract borers and defoliating caterpillars. Their roots unearth sidewalks and will go long distances to seek out and destroy anything carrying water: sewers and even swimming pools.

But this thirstiness can be viewed in a positive light. Willows are recommended for boggy areas or places where water runs off and does not drain. Kolaczkowski recounts a client who had an island situated in a duck pond on which no tree would survive. A willow planted there is now thriving, and the ducks feast in the trees on the caterpillars the tree houses. Many people even enjoy the butterflies the trees attract.

Willows are easy to start on your own, according to Kolaczkowski. When a tree of your choosing is dormant, he says, place a 1-inch-thick cutting in a 6-inch pot filled with damp Sponge Rok. Keep it in a warm place (about 70 degrees) for two weeks, then transfer to an 8-inch pot until rooted, 30 to 60 days.

After a young tree is planted in the ground, it should be staked well so that the twisting trunk can be managed into an upright position. This is especially important if you want to be able to walk underneath the tree later.

Prune a Hankow willow every few years in an upright, oval shape. If kept well-watered, it can grow 6 feet in a season. Most trees that grow fast are also short-lived; this willow has a life span of about 50 years.

The trees must be sprayed for borers (use dormant spray) and for caterpillars.

Salix matsudana “Tortuosa” can be ordered by your local nursery from a number of sources, including Sell-Rite Nursery in Gardena, Orange County Nursery in Norwalk, L. E. Cooke Co. in Visalia, Stallings Ranch Nursery in Encinitas, Valley Crest Tree Co. in Sylmar).

The James Irvine Garden, open seven days a week, is next to the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center at 244 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles.