Shop Willow Cuttings

Cuttings Orders Open 1st December 2023

Reconnecting to our Ancient Arts can bring a great richness into our lives. It allows us to listen to the heartbeat of the land and find our own rhythm within it. One does not need to desire to be a professional basket-maker to grow willow—willow can create beautiful wreaths for the holidays, garden structures for the summer, living willow structures with larger rods, a colourful hedge for winter, and create an invaluable habitat for birds & early nectar flow for bees.

Many who begin to feel the desire or pull to weave with willow, soon find that it is nearly impossible to source Irish grown basketry willow. Importing willow from Somerset in England is always a possibility, although with the costly postage, import fees and disconnect many look to the ground under their feet and decide to grow their own willow. I encourage all people who are interested in the many forms of willow weaving to grow their own willow. Not only does growing ones own material help relocalise our resources, and reduce our carbon footprint—but we are also doing a great service to ourselves, our family and community by helping keep heritage traditions of the land alive.

Over the past few years I I have been collecting prized heritage varieties of basketry willow that are perfectly suitable for the Irish climate. I have been given these varieties from my teachers & fellow weavers and growing them organically in West Limerick.. What you see here is my personal favourite varieties. Each variety of willow has its own strengths and weakness—some have striking colour, but are low producers; other are a bit plain in colour but are greatly prized for their size, strength and ‘woodiness’, others make beautiful all round weavers with their slight taper, yet would be too fine for frames & ribs for frame basketry. In each basket I make I would have a minimum of three different varieties of willow to encourage the strengths in each of the varieties for different parts of a basket.

The cutting must be stored in long grass until planting and planted in the doormat season of the year (January-March ).

Each order comes with a digital PDF planting guide ♥️

Willow Cuttings

Each cutting is approximately 12-14 inch length

€ 10 / 12 cuttings (of same variety)

€ 20 / 25 cuttings (of same variety)

€40/50 cuttings (of same variety)

All orders include digital planting guide

Minimum Order of €50

Postage

For Irish order, postage & packaging is €15

For EU orders, postage & packing is between €15-45

No order outside of EU (due to customs restrictions)

How to Order:

1. E-mail contact@wildrosebasketry.ie with order with “Willow Cuttings Order” as subject. Please specify varieties, quantity, postal address, and preferred payment method (bank transfer or card payment via Stripe). Please note card payments through stripe have an additional 1.5% processing fee. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions as well!

2. I will confirm order with total owed, inclusive of postage, send across invoice, and digital willow planting guide

3. Complete order by paying via bank transfer or card payment (via Stripe)

4. I will send confirmation of payment and post cuttings out via An Post. The first orders will go out in the post the last week of January.

Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of land does the willow need to grow in?

• The willow will thrive best in a well-draining field, with access to good sunlight (south-facing exposure), a mixed variety of herbs and grasses in the field, and a high water table. Willow will not thrive in boggy or acidic land. If willow is planted in the wrong type of land it is very prone to disease and fungal problems. Willow does best if planted in patches instead of dotted around the land—this encourages the willow to grow straight and not branchy as a coppice.

How many cuttings do I need to plant if I just want to make a couple smalls or small projects a year ?

• For a couple small projects during the year, I would recommend a minimum of 75 cuttings, and a mixture of 3 varieties (25 cuttings of each variety). As a professional basketmaker, I have around 2,000 stalks of willow total from 15 different varieties, this provides me with willow for my years worth of commissions and projects.

What how much maintenance does the willow require every year?

• If the coppice is set up properly (in particular with an effective membrane of ‘weed’ suppressant, correct spacing and planted on suitable land) the only tending one will need to do is the winter harvest. This entails cutting/ coppicing all the rods of each willow plant back to the base in the doormat part of the year (when no leaves are present). This is a good amount of work, and ‘work is love made visible’ so enjoy it! If the willow is intended to be used for basketry, wreath making, or anything where one would need straight non-branchy rods, the willow must be cut back every winter. If growing the willow for living structures, sculptures, bark or bird habitat one can let the willow grow for 2-3 years without coppicing.

When do I get my first harvest from the willow?

• You will get your first harvest in a years time after planting your cuttings of willow, although it will take three full years for your coppice to reach full productivity. The first years harvest is always a bit branchy—in the years following the willow will straighten out a lot ! You always cut the willow in the doormat time of year, when there is no leaves on the plants (i.e. between mid December and mid-late February)

*Please note all images are of the willow freshly harvested, and will dry respective of colour in description*

Chermesima

salix alba variety

strength: soft to work with, easy to soak up, and semi-resistant to kinking

colour: bright orange

size: 4-6 foot (side branches on larger rods suitable for fine weaving)

A bright, beautiful and branchy willow that has a very distinct bright orange colour when growing and when dried. Incredibly flexibly and forgiving, soft willow that brightens up baskets well. Not a high producing willow due to its branchiness, but a little goes a long way and the side branches may be used for fine weavers :) In the last photo you can see the cured willow colour in a basket.