1 week old....

Buds starting to appear already. I'm planning to "Pollard" rather than "Coppice", which means that after year 1, I will cut the new growth back to the top of the whip, rather than to ground level as you would if coppicing. For pollarding I understand that I have to remove all buds except for those at the top 2-3". This is easier when the buds are 2-3 cm long and can be snapped off by hand (pic to follow in a couple of weeks!).

The advantage of pollarding for me is that I will be cutting the stems at 2-3ft from ground level when mature, rather than ground level. Saves the back injury! Also, should help keep the bunnies off the new growth as it'll be higher off the ground. I am slightly concerned about the deer though......

1 Year growth on pollards (c) The Willow Bank

Planting Willow.........

Willow at 1m spacing with rabbit guards ready to slip over. I found that prepping 10 holes was easiest way to make progress.

1)  Make 10 holes
2) Push in 10 whips & firm around them
3) Drop on 10 rabbit guards
4) Move onto the next 10

Here is a close up of one whip. About 12" is below ground.

And here is an image of the 200 whips planted in 2 rows. 1 metre spacing between plants and 2.5 metres between rows to allow the jeep drive between them.

I had to trim back some of the trees along the ditch line so they didn't overhang the new willow.

Willow arrives......

2nd March 2017 - 200 x Willow Whips arrived by courier, 2 days after dispatched form the UK. Have removed from packaging and placed the bases in a bucket with 4" of water as recommended. Looking forward to planting at the weekend.

I've welded up this tool to help with the planting. 12" spike at the bottom, buried into the ground in this pic!

Roll on the weekend.................