"these trees HATE wet roots. " LOL!! You may be the only one that thinks so :-) Like may other willows, Salix matsudana 'Tortuosa', aka corkscrew or Hankow willow is extremely tolerant of wet soils and will even tolerate standing water for periods of time. But they are also more tolerant of dry conditions than many willows, as well. But like most willows, they trend not to be long lived - prone to weak wood and falling branches and breakage and host to a zillion different insect and disease problems. Would suspect that the decline of your trees, Lauren, is NOT due to wet soils but one or more of the other issues that shorten corkscrew willows' lives.

Can not see rest of documents but your tree appears to have an old injury which has became covered with bark. If you look at the tree the bark in that area and in a fan shaped portion on the left limb is different from the rest of the bark. The different shaped, coarser, bark has covered the old wound. When I planted my corkscrew I was told that this type of tree only lives 15-20 years. Start trying to root some of the branches as a replacement. The tree has compensated for the damage and it may be time to think of replacement. Only an arborist could tell you if the cost of trying to save the tree would be worth it.

I just put my Corkscrew Willow cuttings in water. I keep a gallon jug of cuttings going at all times even if I don't use the cuttings. I do use the water however. Willow water aids other plants to root. I take a turkey baster and pull out water from the jug and water my other cuttings with it. Sounds weird I know but the silicin in the water helps the cuttings root. I refill the jug every few days to replenish my supply. Willow has been used for many different uses the most common being toward the end of the 19th century, The Bayer Company in Germany trademarked a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid, calling it "aspirin," Hope ya good luck, David Here is a link that might be useful: Willow water explained

Still have this start?