The study analysed whether higher above-ground production due to fertilization was associated with increased light interception or higher light use efficiency in an Estonian Salix plantation in 19992001. The leaf area index (LAI), effective extinction coefficient, and clumping index differed in two studied Salix species. These parameters varied also largely during the vegetation period and due to different availability of mineral nutrients. The values of seasonally intercepted radiation were rather uniform. Though fertilization had a positive effect on LAI, the leaves of fertilized plots were more clumped, which offset the effect of high LAI in terms of light interception. The annual above-ground production and light use efficiency were higher in fertilized than in control plants. Above-ground production was closely related to light use efficiency, whereas the correlation between above-ground production and seasonally intercepted radiation was weaker.