Top shoots are approx. 2ft (600mm) in length and plants look very healthy. Weed growth in some areas is as tall as the stems so I am glad I chose the 3ft whips to plant. Shorter whips and possibly their top growth could have been overshadowed by weeds otherwise. Ferns especially are a problem. I plan to mow the worst of these back next week as I'm reluctant to spray in case any drifts onto the willow leaves.
Out of 200 whips planted only 4 have failed. They are randomly dispersed so cannot come up with any specific reason for this, but I will replace them next winter with shoots cut from healthy trees.
Here are 2 pics of the rows with the grass / ferns mowed. The planting lines have been treated with weed-killer earlier in the season and are still fairly weed free, with the exception of the occasional fern. Before mowing grass height was up to 16" (400mm) and ferns were up to 3'4" (1m) tall.
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