Hello. There is a lovely willow tree in my back yard that seems to be dying. About 2/3 of the tree has very scraggly branches, while the one area has nice, long weepers. The trunk is obviously very odd, too. It's been fine until this year. We have very sandy soil, too much ivy, and at least one very pesky mole. I'm not sure if any of these is killing the tree, though. I have started to remove the ivy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Maybe it got too cold one year and the trunk cracked open. That wound has been there long enough for the tree to have made some progress toward covering it with new bark. Probably not much to be done except make sure when it blows over it doesn't crush something desirable. Or cut it down ahead of time and plant a replacement, maybe a different kind.
Well, I was afraid of something like that. At least it's not big enough to hit the house when it falls. Thank you for your input :-)