2018 was not a great year!

You will see form my earlier posts that I planted my 2018 willow by using cuttings from the 2017 willow Year 1 growth. Overall my 2018 willow have not done well. I'm not sure if this is because I used my own cuttings, which were thinner than the cuttings I originally purchased, or if the cause was the unnaturally dry summer we had in Ireland in 2018.

I would estimate that only 60% of my 2018 trees survived, and those that did only recorded 600mm growth at most. This is against 6ft growth the previous year.

For 2019 I am going to revert to purchasing 200 cuttings from my original supplier and plant these. This is partially a necessity as there is insufficient year 1 growth in the 2018 crop to replant.

Last weekend I strimmed the grass from the area that I'm going to plant. next I'll spray it to clear the path for my cuttings in March.

Interestingly, the path I cleared for 2018 planting is now visible on Google maps satellite image:

2018 planting line prepared

It's the line that is shaped like an ice hockey stick just below the hedge line. The 2017 planting line is between that and the hedge. The straight lines in the middle of the picture show the electric fence I've installed to keep the deer out.