Last years willow Vs this years willow!

When I received the advice to fully cut back the willow growth after year 1, I was far from certain that it world work. The theory is that it allows the root systems further development  and that growth rates would significantly increase after this.

The pictures below show the year 1 willow beside the year 2 tree. Bear in mind that in December, both were the same height as the year 2 were cut back.

Year 2 on left, Year 1 on right

Year 2 on right, Year 1 on left

The year 2 plants have almost 1m growth, whereas the year 1 plants have about 200mm. Surprisingly, the Year 2 whips have increased in both height (from 600mm to 1m) and girth (from 12mm to 25mm) quite dramatically.

As you can see, I had to look after weed control again. An afternoons strimming followed by weed killer did the job.

Now that I have two double rows, I can see the plantation taking shape.

How long does it take for Willow to root?

I always wondered how long it would take for the willow whips to develop roots. As an experiment I popped a few 1ft sections into the pile of grass clippings in the garden on 23rd December 2017. Exactly 4 months later (23rd April 2018)  I removed them and you can see clearly that several white roots have developed. There is also good leaf growth on the top of the stem. As they were only sitting in the grass clippings, it was easy to remove them without damage.

Amazingly, even  one that was upside down has rooted (on its top and buds are developing!!

Pollarding after year 1 and replanting. 

With some free time coming up to Christmas, and the weather behaving, I took the decision to pollard my 1st year willow, and utilise the cuttings to plant year 2.

Pollarding was easy, just cut everything back to 2-3" from the main stem.

This left me with a wheelbarrow full of willow whips varying from 3ft to 6ft long 

Planting the second row involved the same procedure as year 1, with one exception. My whips were  not as thick as the ones I purchased in 2017, so they were unable to support the rabbit guards on their own. I solved this problem by purchasing 200 x 1m long bamboo sticks on ebay. With each new whip I installed a bamboo stick alongside and then slipped the rabbit guard over both. This will also help the lighter whips grow straight for the first few months.

As I had to wait a week for the bamboo to arrive, the rabbits decided to treat themselves at Christmas, and attacked approximately 10 of my newly planted whips. They bit them off about 6 inches up the stem as you can see below (also evidence of their crime left on site!).

Thankfully I had some spare whips, so I replaced the damaged ones and installed the rabbit guards to prevent any further damage. I noted also that my soap has by now all washed away, so I will have to install more before the leaves come out to keep the deer away.

I now have 2 pairs of double rows with a wide gap between them so I can drive the jeep down the middle, and hopefully harvest from either side. I plan to plant additional double rows every year until I can harvest the first set.

The only expense this year was a little weed killer, rabbit guards and some bamboo sticks.