Friday 24 January 2014

Planting the Willow

Today we were hard at work planting 100 willow wands (1.5 Metres tall) on the Orchard site.  We've planted Salix Viminalis which is a fast growing native plant. It will grow about two metres higher in the first year. We'll prune it in the late autumn of 2014 to encourage side growth.

Planting Willow.
Planting willow wands

We planted the wands through metre wide woven textile membrane which you can see in the picture above. The membrane mat is laid on the ground and will suppress other plants which might compete with the willow as it establishes its root system in the ground. The edges of the membrane have been pinned down with special plastic pegs driven into the ground. Later we'll cover the membrane with wood chippings.

We're protecting the base of willow with clear plastic spiral tubes. This will help to prevent damage from rabbits nibbling the bark, We've planted the willow grove close to the line of the ditch which has been filled in during previous owners of the land. The wands are planted about 50 cms apart.

Aside from the usual mix of birds we saw a grey squirrel and a mouse (or vole?) on the land today.

Complete planting of willow
Complete 100 wands planted

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