At Windrush Willow we are now producing our willow in several forms, as defined below.
This enables us to supply living willow all year round.
The cheapest and easiest way to propagate or plant willow is in the winter when it is dormant, this is defined as after the leaves have dropped and prior to the new leaf buds opening or roughly 1st December to 31st March for the UK. During this time, unrooted rods whips and slips are being used. Learn more from our fact sheet including where not to plant willow Click here to download your copy
Slips : A slip is a hardwood cutting taken from the stem or branch of the parent plant it is simply a 9” long section. No special cuts are needed and a long rod can be chopped into several sections with a pair of secateurs. Best planted straight away by pushing into the soil to a depth of 8” with the leaf buds pointing upwards. ^ . They can be stored at –1 deg C in the fridge for a couple of months.
Whip or Rod : A whip is just the whole stem rather than a section of it, these can be between 4 and 11ft long depending on variety.
Bare Rooted Whip : A Whip on which a juvenile root system has been developed by either placing them in a tank of water or temporarily plunging them into the ground or some form of growing media for a few weeks
Container grown : A whip that has been rooted into a container and grown for at least one season so that a full root system has been developed.
Layer Rooting : A Whip which has been planted into the ground but then the lower 12” of the above ground stem has been jacketed in a 9” black plastic sleeve filled with compost. The whip roots both into the ground and into the soil in the jacket. It is harvested by cutting at ground level. The root system in the jacket is not as developed a pot grown whip but is more developed than the bare rooted whips.
The table below summarises the different way we can propagate and supply living willow.
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