White Dappled Willow | Salix integra

White Dappled Willow is one of the most ornamentally striking shrubs you can plant in a moist spot — a fast-growing, adaptable willow grown primarily for its spectacular variegated foliage, which emerges in spring as a vivid flush of pink and white before settling into a clean white-and-green dappled pattern that holds through the growing season. New growth flushes pink again with each pruning, making regular coppicing both a management strategy and a way to keep the plant at its most colorful. It works equally well as a standalone specimen, a mixed border anchor, a living screen, or a bank stabilizer along a pond or wet edge, and it establishes and fills in quickly once planted. For a landscape shrub that earns attention in every season while also doing real ecological work, it is hard to beat.

Latin Name: Salix integra 'Hakuro-nishiki'

Site and Soil: Full sun to part shade; prefers moist to consistently moist soil — performs well along pond margins, rain gardens, low spots, and creek banks

Size at Maturity: 4–6' h x 4–6' w as a shrub; can be trained as a standard (single-stemmed tree form) and maintained at a more compact size with regular pruning; responds vigorously to hard coppicing

Pests & Diseases: Generally vigorous; some susceptibility to aphids on new growth in spring — typically minor and self-resolving; occasional leaf spot in humid conditions is manageable with good air circulation

USDA Zone: 4–9

A Note on Siting: Like all willows, White Dappled Willow has a moisture-seeking root system. Keep it away from septic systems, underground pipes, and foundations and site it where it has room to spread, ideally near a water feature, rain garden, or naturally moist area.