WORKING WITH LIVING WILLOW by Steve Fuller
(first published in Permaculture Magazine)
Please use the forum on www.geocities.willowpool2
(Willowpool Home Links page at the bottom of page) for queries and ideas about
willow related subjects……..steve.
Using willow to create structures in gardens and parks has
become very popular. Environmental artists and landscape designers are
springing up like mushrooms and they all seem to be experts in creating willow
structures. This is because willow is a user friendly material which usually
roots and grows readily and the skills needed to create structures are basic
and easy to master. Imagination and attention to detail help to make impressive
structures.
Willow Rods – the Raw Material
Willow rods have been used by people for many centuries to build
shelters, make fences, boats and baskets. The flexibility and pliancy of newly
cut willow makes the rods perfect for weaving but remember that baskets made
from fresh willows will become very loose when the rods dry out and shrink.
Willow growers dry rods for storage, these need to be soaked to make them
pliable for weaving.
When using willow rods for living willow work the rods need to
be as fresh as possible. We like to cut our material as near the project date
as possible. If you need to store rods for planting either heel them in or
stand them in water until needed. Choose a sheltered, shady spot as wind and
sun will begin to dry out your planting material, making it less likely to
thrive when planted. Rods kept in water for more than a short period will
produce weak white roots that detach from the stem when it is pushed into the
ground. We cut off the length of stem producing these ‘water-roots’ before
planting.
Willow is a very vigorous plant and growth can be up to 12 feet
each year. Each time the plant is cut back (coppiced), usually every one or two
years, it sends up more new shoots. These shoots provide the straight sticks,
or rods, for weaving and construction work.
There are many different willow varieties producing different
stem colour, growth rate, rod thickness, catkin colour and leaf colour and
shape. Willows are popular garden plants because of their beauty. The stem
colour is boldest on first year growth (this is why gardeners coppice coloured
willows and dogwoods) – the older rods that make the framework of an
established structure will lose their bark colour. The modern hybrids that have
been bred for ‘energy coppice’ grow very vigorously but can be prone to fungal
infection such as rust, Bowles Hybrid (the ‘Superwillow’ as HDRA founder L.D.
Hills nicknamed it) is especially susceptible, don’t use it.
It’s a good idea to find out what willows are growing well
locally, both in the wild and in parks and gardens, this way you are sure to
find suitable varieties for your area. Many local authority garden departments
grow willows for landscaping, so often a phone call to your local council will
yield a decent harvest of material for sculpture or at least a source of
cutting material.
Some Willows
The name osier can be applied to any species of willow that is
coppiced to produce long stems known as ‘wands’ or withies. Biomass willows
have been bred for ‘energy coppicing’ and are very fast growing and easy to
establish from cuttings. Some varieties have problems with fungal infections so
commercial growers avoid planting monocultures by using several different
varieties. Biomass growers can provide nice strong rods for big structures, but
they often have a minimum order of half a ton or so, which is a lot of weaving!
Salix viminalis – this is the Common Osier, often growing wild beside rivers
etc. There are many varieties and hybrids.
S. viminalis yields good long rods as they are fast growing
plants. We use a lot of these rods for larger structures, harvesting many from
wild willow beds that need to be coppiced to maintain access for anglers etc.
Salix purpurea – this is the Purple Osier which produces smaller slender rods
which are very tough. There are many hybrids between S. viminalis and S. purpurea,
which produce fairly long rods with darker stem colouring.
Salix triandra – This is the basketmaker’s willow that is grown in huge quantities
in Somerset. We have found this to be little use for willow sculpture, here in
Cumbria it often fails to grow well.
Coloured Willows – For reds and yellows try S. alba Britzensis (red), S.
alba Vitellina (yellow), S.
alba/fragilis Golden Willow and S.alba/fragilis
Flanders Red. S.daphnoides Oxford
Violet and Continental Purple provide mauve stems. S. Glabra and S.Nigricans
yield black stems.
Planting
Willow is planted during the dormant season (November to March) like
other hardwood cuttings. Structures can be attempted after this period but are
not so sure to thrive.
Prepare your ground, if possible, by digging over and removing
grass and perennial weeds, enrich poor soil, with organic matter. We rarely
manage to do this and end up covering the planting area with a mulch of black
plastic sheeting (used silage bags are good) covered with bark chippings.
Alternatively use newspapers or flattened cardboard boxes with a mulch on top.
This will suppress weed growth. If you skip the mulch and use stones or bricks
to hold down the sheeting then problems can occur with the wind ripping up the
sheet. Also mice and voles can take up residence beneath and bark-ring the
rods.
Always use freshly cut 1 or 2 year old willow rods as planting
material. Use an iron bar such as a marquee stake to make holes about 1 foot
deep. Plant the rods into these holes taking care not to damage the bark as you
push the willows in. Remember to plant the right way up – butt ends.
Willow is a very adaptable plant and will often survive in
difficult situations. However for good results chose an open site with plenty
of sunshine. Willow thrives best with plenty of moisture and it is a good idea
to water regularly during the first summer. I have seen large structures
failing due to lack of water; this is especially a problem with living willow
walls that have an earth core that the rods are supposed to root into
laterally. Thick rods with exposed cut
ends will dry out.
Be careful of where you plant your structure, as even low living
fences will throw up a lot of tall growth by late summer. Unless willows are
kept in check by regular pruning they will begin to grow into trees and their
roots can cause damage to drains.
Weaving
A fellow basketmaker once said to me that she didn’t know what
all the fuss about willow sculpture was about because the only weave that was
really necessary was ‘fitching’. This is the weave that is used on openwork
baskets and holds rods firmly in place. It is a good idea to attend a
basket-making course as in the process of making a basket you will learn all of
the weaves that you will ever need. Below are three of the most useful weaves.
3 Rod Waling – Take 3 rods (weavers) and put the ends behind 3
consecutive uprights. Working with the left hand rod weave in front of 2
uprights, behind 1 upright and then stop. Repeat this with the other 2 rods and
then continue weaving in front of 2 behind 1 in sequence. This is very strong
weave that will hold uprights firmly in position. If you shove the but ends in
the ground before weaving they will grow.
Pairing – Pairing is an easy weave to master and is the same as
‘fitching’. Work with 2 alternate weavers – rod 1 goes in front of 1 upright
and behind the next, rod 2 does the same crossing over the first weaver. The
crossing of the weavers each stroke gives this weave its strength. Americans
call this weave twining; hurdle makers call it twilling.
Randing – This is the basic in-and-out weave. It only works with
an odd number of uprights. Basketmakers often weave with 2,3 or 4 rods at a
time; this is called slewing and quickly builds up large areas.
Interlacing rods in a diagonal latticework pattern can make
large structures such as tunnels and domes. Small willow rods can be used to
lash the skeleton of a structure together, we prefer to do this than using
string, wire or tree ties. Willow rods will pressure graft together after
several years if they are bound firmly together.
A Willow Dome for the Millennium
Millennium domes are popular themes for school grounds and Eco
centres. They are fairly quick and simple to build.
1.
Cut 2-year-old rods for the
structure. One-year-old rods are not long enough to give enough height – not a
problem if you want a small structure.
2.
Mark out the circumference of
the dome with string. Dig a circular bed or mulch with black plastic etc.
3.
Plant uprights about 1 foot
apart around the circumference to create the skeleton of the dome. Don't forget
to leave a gap for a doorway. Gently bend the uprights and lash the tops of the
rods together, joining opposite rods in sequence. If you start doing this in
quarters it helps to maintain a neat shape.
4.
Using fairly stout weavers
start to pair around the bent over uprights about halfway up the height of the
dome. This will hold all of the uprights in place and give strength to the
structure. These weavers will eventually dry and rot and fall out of place (in
a couple of years) but by then they will have been replaced by lateral growth that can be woven in beside them.
5.
Weave some 3-rod waling
around the bottom of the dome. Not too high as you will need to step over this
weave to enter the dome.
6.
Plant other rods beside the
uprights and weave them diagonally to create a latticework effect. Bent and
diagonally planted willow rods produce sideshoots from fairly low down; these
can be woven into the structure.
7.
Always plant some cuttings
around the outside of the dome so that you have some replacements in case of
some rods failing to grow.
Other Structures
Other structures can be created using the same basic techniques.
Arbours and bowers are variations on the dome theme. Tunnels are made by
planting parallel lines of rods that are bent over to join and infilled with
diagonal weave. Interweaving diagonal rods in a diamond pattern makes living
fences.
Maintenance
Willow structures do need regular maintenance to prevent them
growing out of control. In the first year after planting allow the shoots to
grow to full length. This produces weaveable rods that can be interlaced into
the structure to fill gaps where plants have failed. The sideshoot rods can
also be used to replace the non-living rods that are sometimes used as
temporary weavers. A mixture of summer pruning and weaving in should help to
retain control of your structure. Particularly strong rods can be pruned off a
few buds from the base; less substantial growth should be left unpruned and
woven in. Within a couple of years, crossing rods will pressure-graft together
to create an even more rigid structure.
Tools
Not many tools are needed: secateurs, loppers and a billhook for
cutting the willow rods.
A spade for digging and an iron bar and clubhammer/sledgehammer
for planting.
Willow Resources
Buying a selection of cuttings from a grower, or harvesting from
the wild, is a good way to start growing your own resources. (Always ask before
cutting willow as it is often used to create habitat for wildlife and should
not be disturbed.) After 2 years you will have sufficient material for living
willow sculpture.
Wally’s Willows, Walter Lloyd, c/o Devonshire House,
Finsthwaite, Ulverston,Cumbria
Blagdon Gardens, Seaton Burn, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE13 6DE
Edgar Watts, Willow Works, Bungay, Suffolk NR35 1BW
Willow Supplies for basketmaking:
P.H. Coate & Son Stoke St. Gregory, Nr. Taunton Somerset TA3
6HY Tel: 01823 490249
Willow
Courses with Willowpool Designs
Steve Fuller and
Simone Siegan run a wide variety of willow courses throughout the UK. See our course list at www.geocities.com/willowpool2
Pictures and
more information at http://content.communities.msn.co.uk/WILLOWINFORMATIONSERVICE/messages
WORKING WITH WILLOW
Old and new ways of using willow for gardeners, farmers and artists.
Willows have been used by people since very early times and have always
been a valuable renewable resource due to the ease with which the shrubs can be
cropped yearly. In Britain some of the earliest examples of willow weaving were
found during excavations at the Somerset lake villages at Glastonbury and
Meare. These villages were thriving agricultural communities around 150 years
BC.
Willows are a typical feature of wetland areas and the genus nameSalix
is derived from the Celtic sal-lis,
which means near water. Although many Salix varieties do enjoy being near water
there are some that will thrive in drier situaions, such as S. purpurea, the
purple osier, which can be found growing on sand dunes. Willows are very
vigourous trees and can grow up to 1.5 inches a day during the summer months.
There are many different uses for willows. The thin straight stems
(known as withies) produced by annual coppicing have been used to make baskets
for many centuries. A willow tree that is coppiced to produce weaving material
is also known as an osier. The main basketmaking willows are S. triandra, S.
viminalis and S. purpurea Before the development of the willow industry and
large scale withy production basketmakers grew their own material and harvested
local wild willows. Farmers and gardeners have
used willow rods for fencing, making shelters, edging beds and as plant
supports. Fishermen made salmon and eel
traps and coracles from willow rods. Some European willows were introduced to
North America during colonial times to produce gunpowder charcoal, today the
finest artists’ charcoal is got from willow.
Salix species have also been used for soil stabilisation and riverbank
defence, as shelterbelts and windbreaks, as fodder for livestock, as
noise/fume/dust barriers along continental roads and to mask and soften
industrial sites. Herbalists use the stem-bark of white willow, S. alba, to
make a painkiller - aspirin was originally derived from salicylic acid. Willow
leaf tea can be used to help ease rheumatism and treat nervous insomnia.
Gardeners grow many different kinds of willows for ornament, from the beautiful
dwarf alpine varieties that thrive in stone containers to the large weeping
willows such as S. alba ‘Tristis’. An increasing number of farmers are now
growing willows for fuel on a Short Rotation Coppice cycle, known as ‘energy
coppice’ or ‘bio-mass’- the willow rods
are harvested after three or more years and chipped for electricity generation.
GROWING WILLOWS
Willows are probably the easiest plants in the world to propagate and
grow. If you just stick a stem in the ground it will usually grow away with no
trouble. Most gardeners have had the experience of watching a willow stick,
hastily cut as a plant support, outgrow whatever it was supposed to be helping.
Many of the willow trees found growing along field boundaries began life as
makeshift fenceposts cut from nearby trees. If you put some fresh willow stems
in jar of water roots will appear very quickly, (mashed up roots and stems
soaked in cold water for a day or so makes a rooting hormone for cuttings of
shyer plants) but be very careful when planting any rooted stems as young willows hate root disturbance.