Growing willow for basket making
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- Опубликовано: 23 июл 2024
- In this video I show you my willow beds. They are in full growth here in the middle of June.
I am a full-time basket maker and artist living in Tipperary, Ireland with my family. Off-grid in the forest on a mountain.
My website: hannavanaelst.com/
FREE Online course BASKET MAKING FOR BEGINNERS: hannavanaelst.com/3071-2/
Facebook group:
This group is to discuss basket making techniques and materials for basket making, learn from each other, share projects and pictures and pose questions: Basket making with Hanna Van Aelst
Instagram: / hannavanaelst 
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Very interesting! I had no idea how willows look like. Now I know!
That's a lot of willow! My patch is about 4 years old now and produces well. I think I will plant more next year though. I live in the U.S. but have a daughter in Ireland! Love your videos.
Thanks for the great videos
Just starting to try to get our willow established here. I have 3 sites like yourself but much smaller. The one big surprise for me was how much willow it takes for a project. I don't know if I will ever have too much willow. Your set up and landscape looks great! I had to subscribe.
Hi Bonnie, Lovely to connect here! I agree, there is no such thing as too much willow!
Thanks great video!
hi Hanna just found your channel and love what i have seen so far , so i have subscribed cant wait to watch more videos
Yay! Thank you!
Hello Hanna! Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing your expertise and taking the time to make these videos. I've been growing willow for several years in the Finger Lakes of New York US, growing only basket weaving varieties. But my rods are so thick they are not very useful for fine baskets. Unfortunately (ha!) I have fertile soil and plenty of water. Is there anything you would suggest for getting thinner rods? Perhaps closer plant spacing? Pinching back the rods early so they sprout from the sides? Thanks for any advice you may have on the subject.
You are wonderfull young girl ! :D
Go on.
This is a marvelous exemple for youg people. ( I mean... I'm 60 yers old, french woman, and I'm so offen desperate about the futur )
I'm begining about basktry. I follow you, be sur of that :D !
Excuse my bad english, I've prefered not to use googl translator. :)
Now I know what to plant to make a fence
That was a very enlightening video Hanna , thank you.
What spacing do you use between willow plants?
it really depends on the variety and how high I want to grow the plants.... I can feel there is another video in there!
I'm curious what would happen to your living willow fence if you neglected maintenance on it for several years? How tall would it get? How thick would the branches get, etc? My husband would like to plant one, but I'm worried it would be too hard to maintain.
Hi great video. I just getting into willow weaving and want to grow some this year can you recommend some varieties. We.are in South Yorkshire regards Trevor
Hi, I cannot recommend varieties really as there are so many! And each site and country is different. I have a list with places that sell cuttings and will be able to advice you on what is good for you. Email me and I can send it to you...
Thankyou for this video, what would your preference be for starting a large willow bed? It was great to hear you using the no-plastic method, I want to know if you would do that again and how effective the animals were at grazing in between the plants? Thankyou
Hi Alex, we are planning to plant more willow this winter using the no plastic method. The donkeys clear up the grass perfectly each year. Best solution would be to have geese or ducks running underneath the willow to keep grass down. Unfortunately we can't due to foxes.
Hello. We are in Wales. I purchased willow for a living willow fence. Can you use this willow for basket making? Our garden floods due to a blocked off stream we were mis-sold on. It was not on the Land Registry. So I'm hoping the willow will help stop the flooding.
Does your willow fence tend to sucker out from the bottom of the plants?
How far apart did you plant each stick originally?
Considering the amount of rain and nutrients in your soil how many years will a willow fence last?
Hi, what do you do about green flies? Some started showing up in my young willow plants.
You spray them with soapy water a few days in a row. That should kill them....
Have you ever tried or considered pollarding (cutting at head height) rather than coppicing? We're just starting out and wondered about doing as a way to protect from deer. At the moment we just have a few plants in tree shelters, planted early this year.
Hi Martin, we have more willow growing around the field that we are pollarding. We planted loads, a couple of hundred, and some if them died because the deer eat the bark. Most of them survived. They are in about 3 years. Once established it's great to graze animals around...
I bet geese would be great at keeping the grass down between the willows. Willow grows everywhere in Northern Ontario, Canada.
yes they would do really well. Unfortunately we have a lot of foxes here!
Hanna, your videos are so wonderful and helpful! I'm getting ready to plant a few blocks of willow this spring. How far apart do you put your rows?
Thanks Marina! The rule of thumb is 30cm between plants, 60cm between rows. But this is more for easy access. I have often planted rows 30cm apart too.
@@HannaVanAelst Thank you so much! I made my first willow baskets this summer and am in lovelovelove! I've been growing out a nursery bed of willow cuttings to experiment with. I have a patch of ground getting solarized to plant next year. Next comes terracing the hillside pasture so we can plant that too...we're scratching our heads about how to lay things out so that we can eventually graze our sheep between pollards. Thanks again for all of your wonderful videos and insights!
I discovered this channel when my RUclips alga rhythm picked up on the fact that I’d been searching for natural fencing ideas (to enclose my raise bed garden area to protect it from deer and rabbits). Now, after watching the first video, I want to try my hand at growing willow. I’m not entirely sure it’ll even grow here in the North Carolina mountains. Also, I’m clueless as to the best way to purchase willow to plant. Any advice/guidance?
It's beautiful. I would like to grow some willow too.
Go for it!
Hi . Kind of the willow plants
I m from Thailand.
Hi Hanna, is the trench necessary? Do you need it to collect water or use for drainage, or does it help having the heaped soil for the willow to get going in?
The trench was necessary for our field as it was very wet and willow does not tolerate standing water. It also gave us a way to cover up the grass to plant willow and keep the weeds down for the first year...
5:00 What particular type of willow are you using for the "living willow fence"? What common name should I ask for at the nursery, so that they give me the correct plant/cuttings?
How do you get started? Once a fence is made does it need to be watered? Would this work in a high desert area?
You start small and try and see what works. Willow needs a regular source of moisture. I don't think this would work in a desert.
I have wild willow where i live but they are big trees. Can i still use them for baskets? Can i still make a living fence?
To make baskets you use the one year old shoots. If you have a big tree you could cut back the branches, pollarding it, and use the new one year old shoots the next year for weaving. Not all willow is flexible enough for basket making though. Experiment first and you will soon find out.
Because of the deer, are ticks an issue there? Ticks are so bad here in New York, USA.
I and the local tribes collect/harvest along the rivers and dunes here in northern California. It's so wet here I fear willow would take over my own garden. It gets invasive and unruly with wanderlust root systems.
It is very wet here too! Willow usually does not send out runners and spreads like that. If harvested annually anyway, the roots are less invasive...
Hi, I would like to by willow plants
This is great info. Im getting ravished by deer (sika) and have wild willow everywhere around the place.
My understanding is i just cut 1 ft sticks and stick them in the ground.
Is that about right?
Yep, just about. But you will have to make sure those deer don't get near it!
Yep, just about right but you will have to make sure those deer don't come near it!
@@HannaVanAelst hmmm, ill need a deer fence for my deer fence.
Is there any varieties they dont eat?
@@GDKLockout I was suggested S. purpurea... but someone forgot to tell my deer. They loved it!
@@HannaVanAelst jo8
Hello Hanna! Would it be possible for you or your husband to show us how to make a living fence, with what sort of willow, etc.? Thanks. Maria
Sorry Hannah, I had just discovered the video you made of structural weaving, and by looking at the results now, we are looking forward to try it in our land with some cuttings from the willow we planted earlier this year. Thanks very much,! Maria
Hi Maria, super! best of luck!
Willow is like wine bush, with the same precision, but a healthier product ;)
I think the deer dont mess with it inside anymore cuz they can get some from the outside where the living fence is. Plus they cant see through.
Yes absolutely! They can't see the nice fresh willow anymore so they stopped trying....
What kind of willow do you have on your video. Is that Babylon type?
Hi, all our willow is basket making willow. Some are Salix alba, some are Salix purpurea or viminalis. There are lots of different varieties within each species itself. We grow about 20 different varieties grown for colour, flexibility and strength.
Not sure what the Babylon type is....
Salix Babylonica is the Weeping Willow.
Hello Hanna my name is Carter Riemer and I am 13 years old. I have been wanting to grow willow for so long and to weave it. I have been asking people for days. Can I please get willow cuttings to start my willow beds? I live in Milwaukee wisconsin and I can give you my email if you want my adress.
Hi Carter. Thanks for getting in touch and I am so happy you want to learn how to weave. I cannot send you any cuttings though for 2 reasons.
1. I am in Ireland and I cannot send living plants or plant materials into the USA without a strict permit.
2. You should only plant willow cuttings in the dormant season, that is winter time, from about November until March or so depending on your area.
What I would suggest you do is ask your parents to get in touch with Dunbar Gardens. They are a willow farm in the USA and they sell willow cuttings in winter. They can also give advice about how best to plant them, how to mind them etc.
The thing with willow and basket weaving is that you need a lot of patience!
Meanwhile I would look at maybe harvesting some wild willow. You can often find some lovely willow in your own area. You could take a few of the skinny branches off and weave with them.
I wish you the best of luck and I hope you will get to weave your basket soon.
Much love
Hanna
@@HannaVanAelst THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
About the deer fencing, put a second fence 3 feet away from first fence. Place the wire about 8 to 12 inches from the ground. When the deer approach the wire their front legs will get zap. They are more of a vertical jumper so they have to get fairly close to the first fence in order to jump over. The 2nd fence acts like a deterrence.
We live in upstate NY and it works for us so far. Growing succulent veggies 😁
Great to know Brian, thanks! Makes sense like that. We have also found that the living willow fence acts as a visual block for the deer so they don't even try to jump the fence.
Hi Hannah CAN a BASKET BE repaired at any stage THE underneath ,or top THANK YOU
From AUSTRALIA
My dear I live in a state where a few folk have learned to make a deer fence without putting up too much $$ into building it
Most farms here use wooden posts
Placed so many feet apart.
Then woven or grid wire fencing attached