Frequently asked questions about growing willow

You may also find answers to your questions in the sections on using willow, caring for your willow, and our summary of suitable varieties for different purposes.

Q. What is the difference between the various length willow cuttings?
A. A longer or larger cutting will have more stored energy than a smaller cutting of the same variety. This means that it will cope better with unfavourable conditions such as weed competition or dry soil especially in its early stages of growth. A longer cutting can be pushed deeper into the soil where there are less roots competing for nutrients and water. It can extend higher above the ground so that new shoots and leaves are above competition for light.

Q. Which length willow cutting should I choose for my purposes?
A. 30cm willow cuttings are used when planting beds for coppicing to ground level.30cm willow cuttings can also be planted for other purposes where high quality weed control is used for the first 2 growing seasons. For instance to plant a hedge through a weed suppressing mulch matt. 60cm willow cuttings. This is a good size to choose for planting garden hedges or windbreaks where high quality weed control is possible. 90cm willow cuttings. Plant this size where weed control cannot be guaranteed or for short pollards. 1.2m willow cuttings. Useful where rabbits nibbling the willow cutting may be a problem. A protective spiral guard can be put over each willow cutting.

Q. What is coppicing and pollarding?
A. Coppicing is cutting all of the growth of a shrub or tree down to ground level in order to harvest the wood and/or stimulate new growth from the rootstock. Pollarding is doing the same above ground level so that the new growth is above the grazing height of any grazing animals in the area. Larger animals require taller pollards. Pollarding may also be useful to raise the harvesting height to suit the harvester.

Q. When should I plant willow?
A. Willow is normally planted during its dormant season. This is mid November to mid March. However at The Willow Bank we use a cold store to keep the willow cuttings dormant until required by the customer for planting. This allows the planting season to be extended through till May.