How to Plant your Willow Cuttings

Getting Started

 

There are many online guides to planting willow, and various ways to do it, but we will share what works for us. As willow is resilient and versatile, there are not many hard rules other than making sure it has light and water. Outcomes will vary depending on your climate and soil, so some experimentation can be helpful.

 

Selecting the Site

Your willow should be planted in a full sun location that’s not too soggy. Willow thrives with lots of water, however, while getting started, it shouldn’t be drowned. Consider working on drainage if you have large areas of pooling water. While well draining soil is often recommended, we have had great success in heavy clay as long as there is drainage and not much pooling.

It’s worth considering that willow is beautiful when coppiced and pollarded, so choosing a place that you get to enjoy looking at is a nice bonus.

 

Preparing the Ground

We have had great success with a no till method using cardboard and mulch for our willow beds. There are pros and cons to using plastic, for the gardener and for the willow, as well as for the environment. Woodchips provide moisture retention and nutrition for the soil. If you put on a thick layer of chips, as well as wide enough around the plants, then you won’t need to replenish in the second year, and by year three, the willow will be it’s own weed suppressant, able to outpace the weeds in spring and keep them shaded out. We mulch 5-6” deep and leave a minimum of 12” of mulch beside the rows so we can mow to the edge. Since this is what we are most familiar with, that's what our guide will focus on. 

 

Planting Cuttings

Willow can be planted at many points throughout the year and do well, but the best time is as soon as the ground is soft. Your cuttings can handle freezing and thawing, so don’t worry if there may still be frost coming. If you can pierce a hole in the ground easily, you can plant.

Use a strong, pointed stick to poke holes about 8” deep before placing the cutting in and pressing firmly around the sides. The top of the cutting should at least 2” above the ground. Since we mulch higher than that, we cone the mulch around the cutting so that it is just visible. It’s worth noting that we also plant taller rods that are above ground up to 2 feet with good success rates, as long as there is enough in the ground. 

 

Spacing Cuttings

Counter intuitively, the more closely planted cuttings produce the best weaving material. We have experimented with various spacing but we have not seen it through many years of growth to compare longevity. In terms of success rate in planting, they can be planted very closely. I have heard of people planting as close as 6” between cuttings, but with more space between rows.

My favourite pattern is to plant 4 rows of cuttings 10” apart, staggered in a diamond pattern rather than a square grid, with 7-8 inchses between rows. This still leaves 10+ inches between cuttings. Planted with w depth of 4 rows between paths, it is easy to reach all of the cuttings in the stand from the path. Each cutting is an equal distance from the 6 nearest cuttings in this arrangement, for even growth.

       

You can make your paths as wide as you need. Ours are over 10 feet wide so that we can run poultry and livestock through to fertilize. But you can make paths of 3-4’ for walking.

 

Watering and Care

After planting, water the cuttings thoroughly to settle the soil around the roots. Monitor soil moisture regularly, especially during dry periods, and ensure the cuttings receive adequate water for healthy growth. If they have been well watered to begin and are properly mulched, and the weather remains cool, you won’t need to water them often. As long as the soil feels wet to the touch under the mulch, they should be fine. Do not let them dry out in the first year! And make sure you control weeds for the first two growing season.

It’s especially important in the first year and second spring to keep the weeds back. Every climate and soil is different. If you have very live, active soil, you may need to re-mulch in year two or you may need to pull a few weeds if they are coming through. After the first two years, they will likely outpace the weeds. Just in case, keep an eye out in year three, for particularly fast growing, stubborn weeds, and take them out as needed. 

 

Coppicing or Pollarding

In the dormant season, either late winter or early spring before the leaves come out, cut your willow just above the ground (called Coppicing), trimming off all new growth above, not below, where its grow from the original cut. You can also choose to leave one taller rod to pollard (cutting higher above ground). If you choose to do this, you may diminish your second years growth, but in another year you will have an easier stand to trim. Pollards take a little more time to establish but when done well, they are just as productive and easier on your back. The same spacing rules apply to pollarded willow, but they can become a bit unwieldy as they grow and have a less uniform look, leaning a few inches here or there. For straighter pollards, we have planted longer, thicker rods to begin with. We hope to offer longer rods in future to customers interested in this alternative planting method.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask by emailing info@lanthorn.ca