Janet Sampson

Playing with curves 🌊🤍

Large oval Catalan basket, phew! A useful exercise in material selection and design. I'm using more homegrown and purchased organic willow now, each variety has different soaking and handling properties which take time and experience to get used to.

Sorting willow earlier this week, I was struck by how you can get a rainbow of colours from just a few rods depending on light and shade in the low winter sun. A highlight after a few grey days!
#willowgrower #naturalcolours #naturalcolors #sortingwillow #rainbow #basketmaking #homegrown

If you're thinking of starting a small plot now is the perfect time, willows are traditionally planted in February or March.
They need to be sited away from buildings, drains and water pipes, and have good light in the growing season.

It's not a huge space, the bed on the left is 5.5×5.5 metres planted 6 years ago, the smaller one on the right is 4 years old and 2.5×5.5 metres.

The willow in my small plot over the last year.
These are all smaller, finer varieties suitable for basketmaking. Each row is a different variety which gives a range of colours for both making and winter interest in the garden. I cut most down to near ground level in January or February each year.

The two thugs in my small willow bed, Flanders Red and Light Dicks, harvested and graded. The little bundles on the right are the two rows of Dicky Meadows that grow in between them and are growing back weaker every year.

Thanks! It looks to have grown quite well. I’ll compare the yield with previous years when I grade it over the next few days.

A row of homegrown willow in the background. Coppiced stumps with short, dead, frost-clad willow whips combine with leaf litter to form swirling light and dark patterns in the foreground.

Homegrown willow benefiting from a good frost. There’s a delicate balance each year waiting for the willow to become dormant, hoping for a few frosts, then harvesting before the weather warms up and the sap starts flowing again.