We planted bio-Willow years and years ago for fuel but they never amounted to much and so I think they are simple “sally” Willows. There are hundreds of species of Willow and some are hybridised so it is difficult for me to be sure. Another Willow in our garden was blown down by Storm Darragh so on a beautiful, frosty, dry day, I decided to do some coppicing.
First of all I walked the garden and discovered that there were other Willows here and there that had been twisted by the wind, or knocked down or had taken over. Some of them had gained great height, but those very tall branches have been dessicated by the wind and so cutting them down, or pollarding them, will create great new growth.
Coppicing is cutting the tree down to a flat stump at ground level. With Willow, this will encourage great growth of the long, straight rods that are perfect for basket making. If left, they will put on girth and become good straight branches for fire-logs in about four to five years time. Like wise with Alder.
Pollarding is cutting the tree higher up the stem, I’m going to go around head height. Like a good hair cut that gets rid of split ends, this is also harmless to the tree. As with coppicing, this technique will encourage new growth from higher up the stem.
Apart from the firewood and kindling that we are harvesting, there is also medicine to be had from Willow bark and I will talk about that next week.
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Have a great week!
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