Growing willow for basketry

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Growing willow for basketry
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Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 07 10:32 pm Post subject: Growing willow for basketry
Anyone do it? Found this interesting article from Kew Gardens about it: https://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/willows.html#how

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 07 8:12 pm Post subject:

No, but I'd love too. I'm too wimpy to go helping myself from other people's woodlands! If I have a bit more space, I'd grow hazel and coppice it, not so much for basketry but garden stuff - bean poles, pea sticks, arches and tee-pees, and hurdles and fences. It's so chunky, its quick and easy, and it doesn't matter if its bit rustic. Then it all gets recycled as firelighters when it falls to bits. I love wood, and hazel best of all. I can see a woodworking course in the offing (especially with Sally's cinamon logs tempting me as well!)

I suppose I could aspire to baskets, but they are a bit delicate for me!

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 07 9:31 pm Post subject:

been thinking a lot about coppicing and stuff because we have 10 acres of woodland here, a lot of which is old hazel coppice

i was thinking about making some hurdles and have searched the web for how to do it and can't find a single thing apart from a guy who will sell me a dvd on it for �30....is it such a secret then?

thought about getting someone in to have a look at the woodland to see if there is something we can do to manage it a bit better than the nothing that has been done with it for the last 20 years

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 07 9:39 pm Post subject:

I've got a destruction booklet which I bought from somerset levels (I'll get a link in a mo) for 2.50. It's based on willow, but it can't be that hard/different, surely?! If they don't do it anymore, I'm happy to lend by post - it's quite small.

I did some hazel weaving a few years ago, by pure guesswork and making it up as I went along. It worked, although it only lasted a few years (it was only a little border boundry). Also, round here, the foresty commision run little events in the wood, and often have demonstrations of this kind of thing. Worth going to anyway, I'd have thought.

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 07 11:05 pm Post subject:
Rosemoor which is the RHS garden near us runs basketry and hurdle making courses. They've got gardens all over the place, so probably worth a look.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 10:44 am Post subject:
Actually, thinking about it, there are one day courses at our local college for about 30 quid. Perhaps its worth a look there too?

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 11:14 am Post subject:
No shortage of basketry courses around here quite cheap too - but they tend to be about making baskets, not growing willow for making baskets I'd quite like to see some growing....

LynneA

Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Posts: 4893
Location: London N21

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 4:16 pm Post subject:
My local Red Cross bookshop has a couple of basketry books in at the moment - one of them from 1903! Also noticed on the Kew site that they're looking for volunteers to take part in tours given by their trainee guides - check the news page for the dates.

bernie-woman

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 5:13 pm Post subject:

Penny wrote:

No shortage of basketry courses around here quite cheap too - but they tend to be about making baskets, not growing willow for making baskets

I'd quite like to see some growing....

I will try to take a pic when I am next down the nature reserve

but basically you just get some willow withies and poke them into the ground. Those planted near the stream have done much better than further away

This might give some more info

growing willow

sean
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Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 5:31 pm Post subject:
It's almost impossible to not grow willow. ISTR reading somewhere that you get over 50% taking if you stick the cuttings in the wrong way up.

gil
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Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18415

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 5:37 pm Post subject:
If you are going to grow willow for basketry, you really have to coppice it regularly (probably every year), otherwise the branches grow too large for weaving - would probably make good vertical posts for hurdles though. ISTR instructions for making hurdles in John Seymour's book.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 5:38 pm Post subject:

sean wrote:

It's almost impossible to *not* grow willow.

I was going to say the same thing. I don't think a single one of our sticks failed.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 8:53 pm Post subject:

gil wrote:

If you are going to grow willow for basketry, you really have to coppice it regularly (probably every year), otherwise the branches grow too large for weaving

That sounds good - OH wants a windbreak that doesn't get too tall, and I want to do some basketry. We were thinking about doing this: Planting the first row in the next few weeks, then another row next year about the same time. Coppicing the first row in Nov next year (or possibly this year, if it's grown enough) , and then the other row the following Nov and so on.... Would that work do you think? Could we plant the second row from cuttings from the first row?

jamanda
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Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Posts: 35057
Location: Devon

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 8:57 pm Post subject:
Is this of any interest? Look at 23rd March.

Penny Outskirts

Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 07 9:00 pm Post subject:
That looks brilliant Jamanda Is it near you?

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