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Post by ivyplus on Jul 5, 2008 10:47:17 GMT 12
It is quite fashionable in Europe at the moment. And it is a cheap way of enhancing your garden. Living willowWillow grows and roots quickly. Living willow is cut in the winter months when the sap has died down, before new life and buds form in the spring. Rods can be used for weaving after one year’s growth, but we use older rods with at least three years growth for larger, and stronger living structures. After cutting the roots are stored in water where root nodules form. The roots then grow when they are planted in the ground. Rods can be planted from Autumn to Spring. They need to be watered well in their first year. Willow is not only fast growing and robust but adaptable to most soil types as long as the earth is not too dry. We dig our rods into the ground at least two feet down, to ensure they have the best chance of remaining moist. Rods can be either pruned the autumn after planting or left wild to bush out and thicken. Living willow is woven into intricate, dramatic shapes which fill out with profuse growth of willow leaves surprisingly quickly. Sometimes the design calls for an interesting contrast of living willow uprights and non-living rods for the weave.
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