The other names of willow include willow, water willow, Qingming willow, smoke willow, weeping willow, etc.

The word "willow" has already appeared in the "Book of Songs", my country's first collection of poems written in the pre-Qin period. There is such a sentence in the book "Xiaoya Caiwei" Famous sentence: "In the past, I left, and the willows clung to me. Now I come to think about it, and the rain and snow are falling."

In addition, Fei Chang, a native of the Southern Dynasties, in his poem "Thoughts on Spring Day in He Xiao Ji's Room" There is also such a description: "The water chases the peach blossoms away, and the spring returns with the willows. When will the willows return, they will curl up again."

It is not difficult to see that the willows mentioned in these poems obviously refer to Willow trees (to be precise, weeping willows), because in the modern botanical sense, poplar trees have round leaves, tall trees, and straight branches, and there is absolutely no "leaning" or "curling" state.

Willow is a native tree species in China. According to research, the genus Salix existed in the mountain forests of the Miocene of the Tertiary Period. Pollen analysis in the Qingdao area of ??Shandong Province revealed that "there were Salix plants near Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao between 11,000 and 8,500 years ago."

Willow is also the oldest recorded artificial cultivation in my country and has the widest distribution range. One of the plants, the word "willow" has appeared in prehistoric oracle bones. Willow planting in China has a history of more than 4,000 years, which can be traced back to the ancient Shu King Yufu who sealed trees to define boundaries.

The garden value of willow trees:

There are many types of willow trees and they are easy to hybridize. Hybrids have strong growth potential and adaptability, and are easy to reproduce asexually. They can be selected from natural or artificial hybrid populations and obtain excellent clones through asexual reproduction. In addition, plant tissue culture methods can also be used to quickly obtain a large number of high-quality saplings.

Breeding mainly for garden ornamental purposes should focus on improving its branches, leaves and tree shape, and improving its ability to resist pollution and withstand pruning and shaping. The willow tree has a beautiful shape, releases leaves and flowers early, and is full of tender green in early spring. It is one of the main tree species in the northern temperate zone park. Such as weeping willow and Korean weeping willow, they have slender and drooping branches, like eyebrow willow leaves. A variety of shrub willow trees are resistant to pruning and can be cultivated into shrubs of various shapes or used as hedges.

Willow trees are the most suitable for waterside greening in garden landscapes, such as "The Orioles in the Willow Waves" at West Lake in Hangzhou, and "Peach Creek Willow Bank" in Huaxi, Guiyang. There are still many beautiful willows to be developed, such as the big-leaf willow, with large leaves, like magnolias, purple-red branches, long flower spikes that are red and yellow, and the female plant's style and stigma are red, which is also very beautiful.

There are also more than 20 species of small alpine willows, with plant heights only 5 to 30cm, branches prostrate or upright, twisted, and in various shapes. They have a long life and are easy to survive. They are good materials for making garden bonsai. Commonly used for garden viewing, communities, gardens, schools, factories, hillsides, courtyards, roadsides, and in front of buildings.

When in full bloom, the branches spread out in all directions, making the courtyard covered with green stripes, which has high ornamental value; it is actually an ideal tree species for beautifying the courtyard. It is highly resistant to air pollution and dust and is suitable for growing in urban gardens, especially near pools or streams.