Anyone know anything about willow!?

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Anyone know anything about willow!?
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percypony

Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 146
Location: Hants

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 05 2:39 pm Post subject: Anyone know anything about willow!?

We planted 100 willow's last spring, the quick growing variety for a nice screen/hedge. We put the plastic rabbit guards round them and then just basically just left them to do their own thing. (We thought growing would be good!) They started off OK with loads of shoots appearing out the side of the guards etc and then towards the end of the summer after a long hot spell we noticed that they seems to have 'cooked' inside their plastic tubes and had gone a nice brown colour! Some were obviously dead as the stems snapped when touched but some looked like they might return. At the end of the summer, some had indeed re-grown some more shoots at the top but the ones that had browned at the bottom stayed dead.
They are looking all but twig like right now which I presume is right for this time of year anyway, but do you think they might grow again this spring? We have removed the rabbit guards obviously as didn't want a repeat of the oven situation and they have not been touched by the rabbit population either! Were the rabbit guards a bad idea, even though we were STRONGLY advised to have them?
Any advise welcome as we don't want to have to fork out for more hedging this year if we can help what we have already got!
Thanks
Sarah x

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Mon Jan 10, 05 6:41 pm Post subject:
OK last year was very hot so I think you were unlucky. I think if you left everything alone and allowed everything to recover you should be able to get some cuttings later in the year to fill the gaps. It's not that late, I'll call my father and ask for professional help

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 6:54 am Post subject:

rabbits dont eat willow so dont bother with the guards next time, and dont buy any more just cut of the side laterals for cuttings then just stick them in the ground you dont have to do anything else, the majority will grow.
On dads farm we used to straighten out the meanders in the river frontage with willow and the verticals allways used to take root in the river bed, after two years we would then infill behind the screens.

percypony

Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 146
Location: Hants

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 9:44 am Post subject:
That's interesting about Rabbit's not eating willow! We were assured that we would need the guards! But you must be quite right as since taking them off they have not been touched! I am hoping they will recover this year and have a nice growth spurt and then we can take some cuttings and fill in the gaps as you say. When is the best time to take cuttings and plant them? Autumn I presume?

anneka

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 158

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 11:08 am Post subject:
You can take cuttings from live wood now, and any time up until March as a rough estimate. They should do fine willow is very resilliant. Anneka

Tristan

Joined: 29 Dec 2004
Posts: 392
Location: North Gloucestershire

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 12:02 pm Post subject:

Willow will even root if it is stuck in upside down. If there are any buds below the surface then the plants may regrow from these.

The only type of rabbit guards to use are 3ft lengths of chicken wire, bent into a tube with the top and bottom flared out and secured with a hazel rod. Remove them once the stem is 4 inches thick and the tree should be safe.

Plastic rabbit guards=handbrake on canoe!

Guest

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 1:31 pm Post subject:
Re: Rabbits don't eat willow I can't comment on the native bunnies, but a New Zealand White I used to have certainly did (but then there wasn't much that animal didn't eat)

mrutty

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1578

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 05 10:20 pm Post subject:
My father's response was 'why grow that weed'. Which suggests that it grows very easily. His advice was 'hack off a branch and shove it in the ground'.

percypony

Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 146
Location: Hants

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 1:31 pm Post subject:
Well, I guess we just had some very bad luck then!!! We didn't think after the plants being in the ground for a few months that they would need watering. Stupid maybe... I really hope they come back as we can't afford to buy them again! As for taking cuttings (IF they grow enough this year to cut some from!) do I just take a side branch off and shove it in the ground then?

Guest

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 6:10 pm Post subject:
yes

Guest

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 6:15 pm Post subject:
that was me btw dont know what happened tho

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 6:19 pm Post subject:
everytime I post it comes up as guest (yes I'm logged in)

DarrenG

Joined: 26 Dec 2004
Posts: 110
Location: Lincolnshire Fens

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 05 6:20 pm Post subject:
yes at last

percypony

Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 146
Location: Hants

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 05 3:42 pm Post subject:

Well, I cut each stem of new growth back to about 6-8 inches yesterday so I not have 50 or so baby willows!
Do you think it would give them a better chance if I started them off in pots? To be honest as the grass has grown up around the willow I think these little ones light get lost of I just shoved them in the ground!
I did a test on a few of the older plants to and scraped a little of the bark off and they are nice and green underneath so there is hope for growth this year I think!

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 05 3:51 pm Post subject:
If you're worried about competition from grass clear a space around what you've planted and mulch.

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