At the beginning of 2024, I attended a course in
Worcestershire to learn how to plant, grow and harvest my own willow. I had
been using willow for a while in projects of mine which you can view here  and I thought
that it would be lovely to grow my own and use it in my work. This would mean
less emissions and CO2 released from bundles brought from the other side of the
UK and would give me a new skillset. I have loved it. 

My new studio is based in Pembrokeshire and I have a plot
that I can grow the willow on. All of the plants survived, despite red
weather warnings, gale force winds, flooding and heat- and I cut them this
week. Willow are known for their hardy nature. They are pioneer species in the
UK- meaning that if land is abandoned or left to go a bit wild, willow is one
of the species which will appear first. This is why some people regard them as weeds.
I don’t. I love them. Their varieties come from the fact that they can cross
pollinate all over the place and with one another- mixing species to make new
and varied ones- and so you can find some willow in areas of the UK and
not anywhere else. Willow re a species which can be used as ‘phytoextractors’.
This means that they can be planted or grown in areas where there are chemicals
or toxins in the soil and actually draw up and ingest the toxins from the
environment. I have written a paper on willow and its use as a
phytoextractor, which I wrote for my MSc and may publish it here or elsewhere
for others to have a look at. The first time I learned about this process I was
amazed and so pleased to know that the tree/shrub I love so much is doing such
good in so many ways. Willow doesn’t mind “getting its feet wet”
unlike other tree species which can rot and decay and get a host of fungal
infections form standing in water too long. Willow can be found in many wet
woodland habitats and is growing in abundance in the ditches and dykes round
here because of this. This meant it didn’t matter that areas of where I am
growing it would flood because the willow would cope with it. It also meant
that this year I didn’t need to water it at all- just kept the rainwater doing
its job for me. Willow can also be found it what is known as ‘carr’
environments. Wet habitats which often contain willow and alder and is become
more rare in the UK due to draining areas and not leaving nature be.

I haven’t used any chemicals or pesticides on them at all.
The willow beds have had some slugs that I picked out by hand. Aphids arrived
but I went through them by hand to rid the plants of these, plus the ladybirds and
spiders were on hand to help me too. There was even a lovely newt that joined me
which was such a lovely experience!

Two types are being grown by me at the moment for weaving
use. Zwarte drieste and Purpurea. The second one
had provided me with some lovely colours, which I am keen to see what they look
like when I use them in a project. The other type had thicker stems and
will provide sturdier pieces to use. I have potted on some cutting from
these to plant in new beds or possibly alongside by studio fence to provide
colour, texture and visual displays of splendour throughout the seasons. 

Growing something gives such a sense of pride and also
excitement as you see the plant change and grow. I felt a bit bad coppicing
them but of course this is what they need in order to keep growing for weaving
use and willow deal well with cut backs and hard pruning like this. We shall
see how this all goes but I am very interested to see the woven results and the
growing results yet to come.