Size will depend on the variety. I have a large catkin pussy willow outside my office window that is the size of a large bush (4-5 ft) and prune it back several times during the year to keep the leaves/branches from obstructing my view of the bird feeders in the apple tree. Also, the rabbits prune it during the winter if I don't surround it with chicken wire. They have eaten the bark and girdled part of the bush in previous years.

Willow seeds are exceedingly ephemeral. Often they are viable for only a few days! Just a little trivia, but I doubt birds had anything to do with it.

If you have the native wild pussywillow, it will grow to 10 or 12 ft. There is a plethora of wild willow species that grow smaller and larger. None produce catkins as nice as the pussywillow, IMO. If it is larger, and produces nice catkins, than I suspect it is not a wild species, but one introduced to America. You can always keep cutting it back, but if it wants to be a tree, expect regrowth in the 5-8ft per year range.

I suspect then that it is an introduced variety, I only noticed it last spring for the first time (and I notice most everything back there because I am hunting out and pulling cottonwood, oak and ash trees) and it is at least 8 feet tall now, the catkins were absolutely lovely as well.

Thanks for the info, and the trivia as well...I love learning things like that. Now I will have a desision to make...not sure what it will be.

Helen.

I'm jealous.

There was one on a low fence line along a pasture on our property when I was a very small child about 1969 or 1970.

It was wonderful(and about 5-8 feet tall if I remember correctly).

Mine was from cutting for a science project - now 15 years later it is a huge bush at the lower edge of our septic field. I am sure I could prune it successfully if I chose. I am interested that it may be an imported variety - I was planning on putting some cuttings along my creek bed, but that is a preserved area and we can only pplant native species.

Oh Helen-
Enjoy the shrub to the fullest!
Bring cuttings of the catkins to your friends in the spring- and make willow furniture when you prune (a couple of times a year)!
I once found an article on willow furniture, and tried to make a chair- but it turned into a bench. I had run out of willow and tried to use Elm saplings... Although one side of the bench was perfectly comfortable- the other side was torture to sit on... and to top it off, I did not realize until well into the project that I myself was sitting in Poison Ivy while building... My family had fun with my "Blaire Witch Project" as they chose to call it till the next springs first bon-fire...
Yep- Willows can be fun and entertaining too! I do hope you will keep it around a bit... Maybe it is a river willow?

Thanks Julie, for the advice and the chuckle...not necessarily in that order either. It could be a river willow, it is by the river...

Helen.