My hakuro nashiki tree has become quite large in only three years. When is the best time of the year to prune and how much can be pruned?

Thanks,
L.

Your salix will respond well to pruning. the best tim eto prune is in late winter before the new buds emerge. You could even coppice it if you want it to stay more shrub-like.

Coppicing a plant basically involves cutting back a plant to near ground level. Coppicing may alos be called cutting back hard. And I do mean hard.

To coppice a plant, cut it back in late winter or early spring before new growth begins. If the plant is growing from multiple stems, choose 3-5 of the strongest of these and and cut them back to 2-3 feet. If it is growing from a single stem, cut this back to several inches above ground level, just make sure to leave at least two strong buds so you produce vigorous new shoots.

Coppicing does take something of a leap of faith. In some instances you’ll be cutting a multi stemmed plant 12-15 feet tall to a short stub. But what you get when you do this is a beatuful plant with larger, showier leaves that will stay in the eight foot range versus a 15 foot monster.