Looking at this gives me ideas for shelter long term in the winter. If you did this weaving and trimming in the fall you could possibly throw a tarp or hides over this in winter and have a strong and stable shelter every year for quite some time.
Technically after you got it thick enough you could add a thick layer of clay and some soil ontop of that on the outside and on the inside make a little layer of clay but then use cement to force prune the roots from coming in. This would create a well insulated living shelter year round. If you did it in such a way you built a real door into it, wouldn't be diificult with a 1' layer of soil to stay warm.
Lovely! I had such good luck with your willow cuttings! Even though I had them in almost terrible fields they still did well enough to give me cuttings so I could plant them in better locations around the homestead. What a blessing! Which species did you use for this great work of art? It is funny, I think I know where it is planted on my property but proper names for the willow are beyond my brain at the moment and forever here. This vid just popped up into my feed!
Thanks for a great video. What is the dome like now? It looks like the dome is getting a bit higher each year, so I'm wondering if that eventually becomes difficult to manage?
Hi. You can see a few more photos including a recent one after pruning in this photo album on Flickr: flic.kr/s/aHskq6tQp9. Also there are a few photos posted if you scroll through my Instagram feed @dunbargardens. The size really doesn't change much. I do use an orchard ladder to prune the top. There are quite a few rods that are pruned off once a year in the late winter so it does take a few hours.
@@DunbarGardens Thank you! Your photos are really helpful, now I know what I'm aiming for! It's useful to see a mature structure and the photos clearly show both the pruning and the weaving, and when it was done. Most of the videos on youtube show the first couple of years only.
@@DunbarGardens You could try to twist the branches into a stem at the top. If it all grows together in the next decades you should have a tree resembling Yodas home.
Wow! How long does it take you to prune, do you use a power tool, or clip each branch? I want to make one but a worried I’d be getting myself into too much work in pruning by myself.
I use loppers and pruning shears. I usually prune it in late winter. I will work on it a couple of different times. At least once I will get an orchard ladder out to get the top. 3 or 4 hours maybe? It's like pruning a couple of large fruit trees. I cut thousands of willows rods on my farm every year so it's a little hard for me to judge. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
DunbarGardens I’m about to start my willow dome and having some questions and don’t know who to ask. You were so kind to reply before, and obviously quite an expert in willow based on your cat/basket video, so I thought I might try you..... I keep reading that willows are bad for residential settings. We are on a 1/3 acre residential lot. With the annual pruning will the roots also stay relatively smallish and not cause foundational issues? Growing 20ft from any structure? Also, while foraging I found one tree that had yellow wood, while all the others had a green turn to brown/red wood. It looks like the same species, so I didn’t know how to tell if it was a genetic mutation or a diseased tree. Would be fun to have multiple colored branches but I don’t want to risk killing it. 😬
@@magicalcuriosities7062 Yes the roots will be smaller than a full size tree but they can be substantial when you have that many rods planted. I don't really want to make a recommendation other than I strongly advise not planting near drain fields or any other drainage pipes. Most people use long rods from coppiced plants. They are often 1 or 2 year old vigorous rods. Willows are hard to identify especially without photos. There is a lot of info online if you search for living willow structures.
Хобби
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Looking at this gives me ideas for shelter long term in the winter. If you did this weaving and trimming in the fall you could possibly throw a tarp or hides over this in winter and have a strong and stable shelter every year for quite some time.
Technically after you got it thick enough you could add a thick layer of clay and some soil ontop of that on the outside and on the inside make a little layer of clay but then use cement to force prune the roots from coming in. This would create a well insulated living shelter year round. If you did it in such a way you built a real door into it, wouldn't be diificult with a 1' layer of soil to stay warm.
Amazing!
Gorgeous!! It looks like a wild thing when its hair grows each year. I always wondered how these sculptures are managed through the years.
I am definitly making one of those! I love how it keeps getting denser and lusher each year!
What type of willow is shown in this video? So many of these posted on RUclips, but nobody ever says what KIND of willow is is.
hobit home
Great hide-away for the kids! Thanks for sharing.
Lovely! I had such good luck with your willow cuttings! Even though I had them in almost terrible fields they still did well enough to give me cuttings so I could plant them in better locations around the homestead. What a blessing! Which species did you use for this great work of art? It is funny, I think I know where it is planted on my property but proper names for the willow are beyond my brain at the moment and forever here. This vid just popped up into my feed!
Hi Chad! I used Salix purpurea Eugene for this structure. Glad you had some luck with the cuttings. I remember watching some of your videos.
@@DunbarGardens AWESOME!
Awesome! I was wondering what species of willow is this?
This willow is Salix purpurea 'Eugene'. Thanks!
Thanks for a great video. What is the dome like now? It looks like the dome is getting a bit higher each year, so I'm wondering if that eventually becomes difficult to manage?
Hi. You can see a few more photos including a recent one after pruning in this photo album on Flickr: flic.kr/s/aHskq6tQp9. Also there are a few photos posted if you scroll through my Instagram feed @dunbargardens. The size really doesn't change much. I do use an orchard ladder to prune the top. There are quite a few rods that are pruned off once a year in the late winter so it does take a few hours.
@@DunbarGardens Thank you! Your photos are really helpful, now I know what I'm aiming for! It's useful to see a mature structure and the photos clearly show both the pruning and the weaving, and when it was done. Most of the videos on youtube show the first couple of years only.
@@DunbarGardens You could try to twist the branches into a stem at the top. If it all grows together in the next decades you should have a tree resembling Yodas home.
Loveeeeee
WOW! I wonder what it looks like 8 years later :)
There are a couple of recent photos in this photo album on Flickr: flic.kr/s/aHskq6tQp9.
@@DunbarGardens Thank you! It looks amazing :)
Wow! How long does it take you to prune, do you use a power tool, or clip each branch? I want to make one but a worried I’d be getting myself into too much work in pruning by myself.
I use loppers and pruning shears. I usually prune it in late winter. I will work on it a couple of different times. At least once I will get an orchard ladder out to get the top. 3 or 4 hours maybe? It's like pruning a couple of large fruit trees. I cut thousands of willows rods on my farm every year so it's a little hard for me to judge. It doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
DunbarGardensthank you for the reply. That sounds not to bad. I think it’ll be worth it. What fun!
DunbarGardens I’m about to start my willow dome and having some questions and don’t know who to ask. You were so kind to reply before, and obviously quite an expert in willow based on your cat/basket video, so I thought I might try you.....
I keep reading that willows are bad for residential settings. We are on a 1/3 acre residential lot. With the annual pruning will the roots also stay relatively smallish and not cause foundational issues? Growing 20ft from any structure? Also, while foraging I found one tree that had yellow wood, while all the others had a green turn to brown/red wood. It looks like the same species, so I didn’t know how to tell if it was a genetic mutation or a diseased tree. Would be fun to have multiple colored branches but I don’t want to risk killing it. 😬
@@magicalcuriosities7062 Yes the roots will be smaller than a full size tree but they can be substantial when you have that many rods planted. I don't really want to make a recommendation other than I strongly advise not planting near drain fields or any other drainage pipes.
Most people use long rods from coppiced plants. They are often 1 or 2 year old vigorous rods. Willows are hard to identify especially without photos.
There is a lot of info online if you search for living willow structures.
@@DunbarGardenscan I use black willow cuttings for this?
Need an update
There are a couple of more recent photos on my Instagram feed on 4/7/23 and 12/27/21.