![]() The willows are cut in the spring when they are pliable. Some of the inventive sculptures and forms include garden chairs, benches, arbors, tree houses, fences, wigwams and garden rooms. In Germany, Holland, France and Great Britain willow is used today to build living structures. Other uses of willow include baskets, hurdles, creels, eel traps, and crab and lobster pots. Here in America the Mandan Indians along the Missouri River area of North Dakota made Bull boats of willow and covered them in buffalo- or cowhides. ordered his troops to make wicker boats of the type he had seen in Briton. Julius Caesar while fighting in Spain in 49 B.C. Mainly used for fishing, the construction was both durable and flexible and the boat could easily be strapped across the fisherman’s back making it easy to travel between waterways. These shallow round boats are thought to have been first used on the rivers in Wales and Ireland. Coracles, a simple flat-bottomed boat, was constructed of willow and then covered in animal hide to make it watertight. Salix has been one of the important materials used in the making of ancient crafts in America, Europe, Asia, and many other parts of the world for centuries. Depending upon the species a wide range of color is available from dark purple, several shades of red, orange-yellow, and gradations of several colors. In spring the male flower scales are released and the unopened antlers are revealed. ![]() If you choose the willow for its catkin then select the male of the species. The other bonus of willows is the variety of catkins. There are many ornamental willows with beautiful stem color. Willows range in form from weeping or erect trees, semi-weeping, contorted trees, arching shrubs, full shrubs, compact dwarf, and also trailing dwarf species. Salix, Latin for willow, comes from the Celtic word Sallis: Sal meaning “near” and lis “water.” Many willows can also withstand dry conditions. I have seen many willows grow more than a foot in one summer and some varieties as much as two to three feet a year. In Delaware County the growing season averages 90 to 120 days and we are lucky if our evergreens put out 6 inches of new growth a year. It is a tough plant that has survived for 100 million years.įew plants can match its vigor and speed of growth and this is why I was drawn to the species. One reason why the species has been so successful is that the fine seeds have tiny hairs that make it easy for them to be carried on the wind. There is evidence that suggests that Salix began in the subtropics and eventually made its way to the Artic. ![]() Salix is one of the early flowering pre-Ice Age plants. In finding the right plants for the appropriate situation it seems that willows are a perfect solution for many areas of the garden. Some areas have no top soil, only hardpan, while other areas are boggy and wet throughout the year. Gardening on my 4.25 acres has been difficult at times because of the extreme changes of elevation and soil conditions. After several years of experimenting with many genuses of plants I noticed that I have unconsciously been collecting the genus Salix (willow).
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