Willow Bundles - Willows (Salix family) are ideal for creating screens and windbreaks. They are very easy to grow and their brightly coloured stems add winter interest,  PLUS willows also provide some of the earliest nectar  in the year for bumblebees, butterflies (both now endangered), hoverflies (the gardeners’ friend because they eat aphids) and most other insects coming out of hibernation - these in turn are food for birds and bats! Willow catkins are very decorative and the stems can be different shades of green, yellow, red and purple, providing an attractive screen or windbreak in the same way as gardeners grow Dogwood.You can use willow for making your own baskets, hurdles, bean poles and garden obelisks. Removed for the summer - Available again in the autumn.

Willow Bundles - Willows are very versatile and will grow in any soil conditions including wet, polluted and poor soils - In fact they can be used to filter out impurities. Once established (2 years) the willow can be harvested by cutting off all the canes after leaf fall (between November and February), right down to a stump (10cms high). After that you can harvest some canes in rotation every winter, but leave some to flower for the insects in early Spring.Many species of moth caterpillar feed on willow and these in turn are fed to baby birds, so if you see caterpillars eating your willow leaves, don’t spray or remove them, just leave them and the birds will feed them to their chicks!

Willow Bundles - Willow is fast growing and easy to plant. It is supplied in bundles of 5 willow cuttings - each cutting is 20cm long. Simply push  them into the ground where you want plants grow (no soil preparation is needed).Easy! Each bundle comes complete with full planting instructions and  has a mixture of different colours - we will try to send you one of each, but the bundles may vary slightly.

• Cutting your own willow - The willow can be cut and used to make your own baskets, hurdles, bean poles and garden obelisks.
• Important food source - The catkins are one of the earliest nectar sources for butterflies, moths and bumble bees. Hoverflies will also feed on these catkins before turning their attention to the aphids in your garden. Once the willows are in leaf, many different species of moth caterpillar will feed on the leaves and in turn these caterpillars are an important food for baby birds.

“A donation from all sales goes to the national charity Butterfly Conservation, helping to save butterflies, moths and their habitats."

The species available are :-

Golden yellow (Salix alba vitellina) - red at tips providing attractive hedging and early spring nectar. Stems can be used for winter colour in same way as Dogwood. Used for basket-making or garden furniture.
Pale green (Salix purpurea) - medium-thickness, long, smooth, pale green stems - young stems good for basket-making, older stems good for making garden obelisks and bean poles - good winter colour and early spring nectar.
Dusky grey-green (Salix caprea) - broad leaved providing food for many species of moth, the caterpillars of which are in turn food for chicks - good winter colour and early spring nectar.
Purple (Salix daphnoides) - Commonly used for basket-making - very good winter colour and early spring nectar.
Mottled buff/purple (Salix purpurea ) - smaller-growing, finer stems for basket-making. Good winter colour stems and early spring nectar.

Planting Instructions : -

1. To get your willows off to a good start keep weeds away from them in the first few years. Use either a weed suppressing mat (available by the metre in most garden centres) or mulch around the willows after planting with bark or gravel.
2. Use a cane or a large screwdriver of a slightly smaller diameter to make a hole about 15cm deep every 30 - 40cm apart through the matting and into the soil. N.B. If you want to grow your coloured willows as a windbreak, plant them in two rows about 1 metre apart.
3. Push one willow cutting into each hole, so that just two or three buds, or about 5cm are left showing above the mat.
4. Make sure to plant your cuttings the right way up! We will have supplied your cuttings with a straight end that goes in the ground. The top will have a slanting cut to shed rain. Just to make sure – all the buds should make a ‘V’ with the point upwards.
5. If you can't plant your willows straight away (they will keep for several weeks), stand them in about 2cms of water outside or in a cool shed. If they start to root in the water before planting, cut off the bottom 1cm plus the new roots as they will have taken energy away from that section. You can then plant your rods in the same way as described above.

NEW - 5m Willow Windbreak Pack (35 willow rods for planting a double 5m row to create a windbreak etc) £64.00 SAVE a further £12.50