With everything locked down, I had the perfect excuse to do lots of weaving over the summer. As well as the big log baskets, I practiced a number of different styles of smaller baskets. I had fun making wall-hanging baskets; it took a few attempts to get it right. These wee baskets have proved to be really handy and we’ve ended up having several of them hanging around the house holding all sorts of odds and ends that need to be easy to grab – buffs and gloves for cycling, dog leads. I originally thought of them for vegetables in the kitchen, but that’s the one place that doesn’t have one... yet. I managed to find a better place to store my dry willow. Up till now, I had kept it at the back of the old stables where we store all manner of gardening and other stuff. The problem there is that the stone floor and walls can get very damp with condensation when a damp warm wind blows through. I found that some of my willow was starting to get affected, with a risk of it going mouldy. I have now moved it to a part of the outbuildings that used to be a small sawmill – there is still part of of the old belt-driven saw there. It has been used for storing sawn timber, but with a bit of rearranging, there is room for all my growing collection of willow bundles. This space faces south and has a large glazed sliding door, so it stays really dry all year round. It’s getting late in the year now and the leaves have fallen from the willows at Dalgairn. This means that it is time to start the willow harvest as the one-year growth’s sap has dropped, making the rods better for weaving as they will dry more readily and the bark is less susceptible to damage. My son, Jonathan, and I made a start on cutting in mid December. There are two main varieties growing here; a green stemmed vigorous willow with a reddish tint to the thinner stems – possibly Flanders Red – a very popular willow for weaving, as it dries to a strong orange/red tone. Its main drawback is that it can take twice as long to soak as other varieties; the waxy bark slows the soaking process considerably. The other main crop here has a very bright beautiful yellow stemmed rod with a red tip – possibly Vitellina. It dries to a mottled dirty yellow with darker patches, but changes after soaking and dries to a variable mid-brown. I’ve been told it might not be as flexible for weaving as other varieties. There are small amounts of a couple of other willows, one is a dark purple/brown with a white bloom on the bark – possibly Daphnoides – and one other variety that I cannot identify yet with vigorous short glossy leaves and large buds. The main problem with this small planting of willows, I’ve been told, is that the coppiced trees are spaced too far apart. The trees are quite mature – perhaps 12-15 years old – and perfectly vigorous, but the space between them allows for wind damage and also encourages the outer rods to be very ‘branchy’. After reading The Basketmakers’ Association book, ‘Cultivation and Use of Basket Willows’, I understand that basketry willows should ideally be planted very close together. This encourages the rods to grow more upright, long and thin, as they compete for the light and reduces the formation of side shoots. The ideal basketry rod has no side branches at all and is slender and finely tapered. This close growing also encourages thinner growth, better suited for weaving. A further couple of visits to the plot and I’ve ended up with a few useful good bundles of willow. These bundles will now be graded by length and quality and stored carefully to dry over the next several months. I’ve been soaking willow for a few log basket commissions. The cold weather is meaning that my soaking times are nearly double the summer soaking times. Working with this chunkier willow is hard work for the hands, and I am struggling a bit to get the borders as good as I would like – too many kinks and inconsistencies. I think part of the secret is in the initial selection of rods; consistency is crucial! In the end they turned out not too bad, I enjoyed the repetition when making these, it really gives you a chance to practice technique. I made a couple of small willow stars from leftover rods, definitely something to do more of as I think people would buy them. I’ll need to think of other small willow items to make with leftover rods. We are using the garden obelisk/plant support as a Solstice tree this year – with a nice willow star of course! Karen has dressed it with evergreen branches, tinsel and lights – it looks really lovely and will still be good for the sweet peas next year. While finishing off the coppicing, I was chatting to George, who owns the ground of which the willow bed is a part, and he has offered a piece of ground beside some fruit trees that might do as a new basketry willow bed. I am going to measure the area and calculate what I need in the way of ground cover material and the cuttings themselves. In this space I am going to plant the willows much closer together as recommended in the SBC booklet. I will try several different varieties and see which ones do best in that spot. I have heard that the local soil and conditions can make a huge difference, with one site favouring particular varieties over others.
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