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Willows are beautiful and easy plants for many different agricultural and

horticultural purposes. They are the best plants for stabilising stream banks, can bring life to industrial wastelands and quickly provide shelter and

screening. Many willows have attractive twigs and buds and are used in wild landscape gardens. Artists use living willow to create hides, shelters, mazes and other structures for parks, gardens and nature reserves.

Willows thrive wherever there is an abundance of water -along streams and riverbanks, the edges of bogs and ponds, and in areas with a high water

table. But these common shrubs are versatile and can be found in roadside ditches, abandoned fields and existing windbreaks. They achieve best growth in deep, rich soil with full sun and adequate moisture. Willows are hardy shrubs that tolerate salt spray, although they grow poorly in shaded conditions.

Propagation:

Willow is a very easy plant to grow from cuttings. Material for cuttings is

available almost everywhere, both from the wild and especially from

landscaped areas such as roadside verges and new industrial/commercial sites which are usually coppiced on an annual or bi-annual

cycle. To ensure successful establishment of cuttings plant willows as early as possible in the autumn, this gives cuttings time to develop root systems

before coming into leaf in the spring. Most planting failure is due to poor

timing.

For larger transplants, make cuttings in the summer and plant in a nursery bed when roots are established. Plants easily grow more than 1 foot (30 cm) per year. Smaller rooted cuttings are useful in stream plantings, enabling you to put in large numbers of plants with little soil disturbance. Cuttings can also be taken in the spring and stuck right in the ground where you would like the plants to grow, although you need moist, protected conditions and can

expect less success. Along eroded stream banks, use cuttings up to 3 feet (90 cm) long if the soil is loose enough. Leave only a few buds showing. This

allows more roots to form deeper in the soil and helps bind the stream bank together. Cuttings should be taken from many different plants and areas to ensure good establishment of willow beds with wide genetic diversity.