Wind in the Willows

woven curly willow wall

Wandering around the exhibit table room in the school gymnasium at the OEFFA Conference I noticed a bouquet of curly willow cuttings in a vase.  When I inquired about them, I met this woman from the Earthship at Blue Rock Station with big thick glasses that made her eyes look like those of a character in Harry Potter.  She told me about the willow and said she was selling them $1 for a cutting.

I ran off to retrieve my money, and when I came back, she decided to give me a whole bouquet of the cuttings all for $2.  She said I could stick some of the right in the ground when it's all muddy like it has been, and I could also put some in water- and they'll just start growing roots.  That way I could plant them with two different methods.

Since returning home, I have learned more about them.  I remembered how Willow, with the latin name Salix, has such a strong rooting hormone that you can even use the water that new cuttings begin to grow roots in (this is not to be taken as a recipe- I'd find out a more clear recommendation to use it properly to help other plants root) to create a rooting hormone compound for other cuttings that need rooting hormone support!
I also remembered that they like wet soils, and do well along river banks for this reason.  Also, I learned that because they are such vigorous growers, they make for great mulch, and coppices that can be used to generate tool handles, or other craft projects because of their beautiful and strong branch curve.

Since acquiring these cuttings, Daniel has also learned about Willow, and that is: "Don't plant them near your house or they will tear your house down!"  Hearing about how vigorous their roots can be, Daniel insists I don't plant them too close to the house, which includes the tree lawn in front of our house.  Which is fair enough.  We don't need any questionable growth around our pipelines.

an interesting & decorative use for a
classroom at the "Willow Farm" in CA

In spite of that fact, I feel I have found the tree I've been searching for- thanks to Anne from Blue Rock Station!  These beautiful, fast-growing trees, make for great windbreaks, and are almost nearly indestructible (a valuable characteristic in my open community garden situation).  Therefore, I plan to plant two of them, one on each half, of the tree lawn in the empty lot next door that it where the new community garden beds are looking to go.  I have been wanting to put a windbreak here for awhile, because it is the most open spot where all that Southerly wind comes blasting through the lots, and this seems to be the perfect beautiful fit.

curly willow wall with wild top 

So, there we have it, one of these I'm going to walk right out there and stick these curly willow cuttings in the ground, and watch as they grow several feet in this first year.  How things can and do change around here!  Here goes to learning some more and taking chances on a tree! 

We hope they will help to keep the wind in willows.