A few days ago I coppiced all my willows (cut them to the ground). I used the longer withies (willow whips) to build the woven play-cottage fence higher:
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| Within a year, the golden withies will darken to brown |
Then today I bundled the rest up and tied them with stray pieces of corkscrew willow. I'll let them dry for a few weeks and then I'm going to attempt to make some baskets for the first time.
Willows are extremely versatile and the withies root easily. Any one of these could become a tree in it's own right. Their rooting compound is so strong that when I gather up all the remaining twigs and slivers (useless for anything else) and soak them in water for a few days, they will release their rooting hormone and I can use the water on the rest of my plants, helping them grow nice deep roots.
Here are some other photos taken in the garden over the past week.
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| Double Jewel Flowering Peach |
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| Wild onions gathered while weeding |
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| Redbud tree, with edible flowers adored by my 3yo |
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| Cherry blossoms |
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| Wild Asparagus |
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| Apple Mint |
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| Daffodils |
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| Crabapple tree |
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Happy Spring, my lovelies!
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Living at your house sounds FANTASTIC!
ReplyDeleteThanks, John! There are some shortcomings and the work never ends, but I'd love to live here forever. :)
DeleteOh my!! I LOVE your backyard/yard/outdoor space!! and I ADORE redbud trees! Thank you so much for sharing all these pictures, though now all I want to do is pretend to garden!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Liza! I love to garden, but I only pretend to have any idea what I'm doing. ;)
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