2 wears ago we planted 2 willow acacias in our yard. One is doing well and other one(20ft away) is very scraggly and does not have a lot of new growth. They are both on a drip twice a week for 2 and a half hrs. Is there anything I could do to encourage better growth. Its leaves are not browning or falling off, its just not full like the other one. Could part of the problem be that it lost a fairly large branch to a wind storm last summer?

"Also the tree is looking bad". ---Picture please!

We've planted the tree and it appears to be happy about that. I removed all the dead branches and no more branches have died. As lazygardens noted above, it may simply have needed to get out of that nursery pot. I want to update the group on the news flash that someone from the shade tree program contacted me yesterday. She was very concerned and asked lots of questions. I showed her the picture now that it's planted and she agreed it looks like it's doing okay. She emphasized the need to get these trees planted as soon as possible. Trees are not meant to grow in black nursery pots. She also told me tree replacement is always a possibility but depends on individual situations. For example, if a person leaves the tree in the container all winter, fails to water it, etc, no tree replacement. They want this program to succeed but, as in all of life, there is a certain amount of personal responsibility involved. Picture's not that great so fwiw I'll attach it.

catman, willow water has been known for a long time as something to use when rooting cuttings from various plants and shrubs. But when talking about using it for tomatoes I can't see how it would help. Tomato seeds germinate, seedlings are raised, transplanted and put out into the garden or a container. Root development is just fine as long as you transplant the seedlings at the 1-2 true leaf stage b'c doing it then shocks the root system and allows for greater vegetative growth , initially, at the expense of root growth, in order to get as much foliage as possible b'c it's the photosynthesis that supplies the whole plant with energy to grow. If you were to take cuttings from mature tomato plants you still wouldn't need to use willow water b'c tomatoes are somewhat unique in forming roots from any stem that's buried in soil or artificial mix. Which gets to your system of trenching plants, which many do, and many have to do if their plants get too tall, LOL, b'c new roots will automatically form all along the buried stem creating an extensive root system for the plant. So I can't see watering inground plants with willow water to "help the stems root faster", I think you really perhaps meant to increase root growth, b'c it happens naturally with tomatoes. For rooting cuttings from stuff like geraniums, and lilac cuttings, and on and on, it may well be helpful b/c they don't form roots along stems as do tomatoes. Hope that helps. Carolyn