Coppicing Willow question.

Hi All,

I have an established willow patch planted and used for growing and coppicing annually, and have had it growing for 8 years.   I’m in Northern Ireland.

This year I have been too busy with other things to get it cut before now - Spring.   This is late enough that the plants are now starting to leaf.

My question is whether  I should cut it now or leave it grow on for this year and cut next season as normal.  I do not want to damage the plants.

I am not in need of the willow cuttings if it damages the plants.
Obviously the cutting next year would be a significantly harder job with 2 years growth and I’d prefer to avoid that if possible.
I would certainly be able to find use for the larger diameter wood crop.

Any comments or direction very welcome.

John

Hi John and welcome to Permies!
My opinion is that although it is generally better to cut deciduous trees in the dormant winter time, an established willow will be difficult to kill! Think how much we summer prune apples and other orchard fruit trees. I'm pretty sure that the trees will not be damaged significantly. It is possible that the regrowth if you cut now may be slightly less than you would have got if you had pruned earlier. I haven't yet cut back my willow fedge which is now coming into leaf too and still intend to do so because otherwise it will grow too big and shade my garden too much.
Saying all that, if you don't have a problem with using the larger wood and don't need the single year growth, the trees won't mind being left another year. Ask for some loppers for christmas and they'll make short work of two year old stems too. I expect most of the new growth will be on the old growth rather than new stems, so there won't be much more little stuff to cut. There is always plenty to do outside with planting and potting on at this time of year, so I guess the time saved now would come in useful for other projects.
What do you use the willow for? I'm thinking of trying a woven retaining bank with mine, but am not sure how long to leave it to stop it regrowing in our damp climate.

Hello Nancy,

Thanks for the reply.  Much appreciated.
As a result I am going to get on and harvest some of the plants, harvest a few as I get time and can use the cuttings and leave some for next year, partially to see what I get from a two year growth cycle.  

Your comment about your own fedge inspired me to cut come of the common willow last night to make a fedge in a difficult spot that I’ve been trying to work out the best fencing solution.  It’s alongside a pond and beside our access lane and the ground won’t take posts due to rock used to create the lane.  The new fedge looks good now - hope it takes well!

I planted the willow with the intention of weaving baskets etc with it.  I build traditional skin on frame boats for a living and one of my customers gave me a variety of weaving willow rods to get started.  I’ve done almost no basketry and a large part of the smaller cuttings are dried and waiting for me to get going with it.  The rest I have used to do some coracle and curragh building with community/school groups, to make a few sheep hurdles, a couple of gates which haven’t lasted well, and wattle and daub walls for a boat storage shed. (Currently only half wattled and totally undaubed!) and I am planning to use a good deal to make woven panels to mask/protect from sun the gravel ram filled tyre foundations on a Staw bale workshop extension I am currently building - which is at the stage of getting electric 1st fix before internal and external lime rendering.  In short, the willow has been a very useful resource for loads of things.

With the retaining wall I have heard that dipping the end of the willow rod into bituminous paint can both stop the rod shooting and give it more durability in the ground.  I’ve not tried it though.

Thanks again.

Hi John,
Wow! I remember as a small child we had a model coracle that was bought on a holiday in South Wales. They did always fascinate me. What do you use for your coracle frames? Sounds like you've got lots of good subjects for other threads if you'd care to share.
I was thinking of using the willow just for the horizontal weaving rather than the uprights - I have quite a bit of ash that I cut back due to die back :( that I can make into stakes. If I cut back the willow now, I'll risk using it later in the summer I think.