Description
Sandbar Willow
Scientific Name: Salix exigua
Restore your shorelines with Sandbar Willow (Salix exigua), a fast-spreading native willow found along waterways throughout British Columbia. Slender and vigorous, it colonizes bare, moist ground quickly and effectively.
Sandbar Willow is well adapted to the moist, sandy soils along waterways in Interior BC. Its narrow silvery leaves, early catkins, and dense suckering roots make it excellent for erosion control, live staking, and riparian restoration.
Growing naturally on sandbars, gravel bars, and floodplains, this pioneering willow forms dense thickets that stabilize banks and provide fast cover for healing disturbed shorelines.
Features
- Native to British Columbia and much of Canada
- Fast-spreading pioneer willow
- Narrow silvery foliage
- Roots readily from live stakes
- Forms dense thickets for bank stability
- Provides cover and browse for wildlife
- Ideal for watershed restoration and willow stakes
Growing Information
Mature Height: 2 to 6 m (6.5 to 20 ft)
Spread: 2 to 5 m (6.5 to 16 ft)
Light Requirements: Full sun
Soil Requirements: Moist, sandy to gravelly soils
Moisture Requirements: High
Hardiness Zone: 2 to 8
Ecological Benefits
Sandbar Willow’s early catkins provide pollen and nectar for native bees, and its dense thickets shelter birds and wildlife. Its suckering roots rapidly stabilize sandy and gravelly banks, making it a key species for watershed restoration and live staking.
Please note: As a native plant, size and appearance may vary depending on the season and stage of growth.
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