Living sculpture

[Sarah-b]

Has anyone ever done any "living sculpture"? ie - with willow cuttings taken in the winter?
I have been perusing the web and have been inspired to at least think about making a willow wigwam for the children.
Wondering if I can just pop out and pinch some cuttings from the huge willows near our local river.
Wondering what the pitfalls might be?
All looks a bit too simple for words!
sarah.

[Sarah-b]

[ACE]

I expect there is a law about it, but you could always ask for some. Whips are cheap to buy and you could make it out of a few different varieties.
My latest contract is redesigning an building hidden gardens in about 8 acres of woodland in a popular tourist spot on the I.W. We hope to use some of the old coppiced hazel to form  living sculptures. I have not done this before so I am on the lookout for some good books on the subject. So if you know of any, or anyone else knows, let me know.

[Sarah-b]

Hi heritage,
That sounds really interesting. Are you a landscape gardener or somethin like that?
Does hazel work the same way - ie you stick it in the ground and it grows?

sb

[ACE]

Sort of a landscape gardener, I build show gardens in the summer months at the big flower shows. Next year we start at Chelsea for Terence Conran, then on to Gardeners World at the NEC for our own design for the blind, then it is straight on to Hampton Court for the Daily Mail garden. In the winter we do garden makeovers and a big ongoing job at the woodland site. Hazel will root with the right conditions, in a few years and a bit of luck you will be picking nuts. The coppiced hazel we will be using is  already growing, we shall just weave and reform the shapes. I am one of the lucky ones who get paid for doing their hobby.

[William O]

Hello Heritage

'Maybe this one: Living Sculpture
by Paul Cooper or Living Willow Sculpture
by Jon Warnes.

I agree that it is not a good idea to simply 'harvest' plantmaterial along the roadside or riverside.

I guess weaving willow and hazel can be done quite well, the trick is a propper design that will work with the material. No experience myself, but sounds really interesting.

[William O]

Interesting link with books and reviews

http://www.slimwetwillows.co.uk/books.htm

[Andy H]

I don`t think Sarah would be wrong in "pinching" a few bits from the wild for the sake of growing more.
It is after all going to be growing somewhere else too!

I picked some sloes! and planted some. Hopefully if it works it will be better than the brambles and bindweed down the footpath.............

[William O]

Hi Andy, I guess it depends on where you live. I live in a rather dense populated country with relatively little nature to spare. If all my compatriot cloggies were to start harvesting the goodies in the "wild" supplies would run out pretty quick....
:-\

And it depends on how it is done. Just ripping off branches or propper pruning that keeps the stock plant healthy ::)

[Palustris]

Be careful which Willow you take, some of them have extremely large root systems, especially the waterside types and they could and would invade any drainage system within 60 feet of the tree if allowed to get large (obvioulsy no in a sculpture).
Hazel does not take from cuttings, you would have to plant nuts. A pack of 10 bare rooted hazel plants at Bridgemere was less than £10.

[ACE]

Thank you William, very good link, you're a star.

Palustris, we will have to differ on rooting hazel, I have done it, but it was not intended at the time maybe I cut the bottom in exactly the right place to encourage roots to grow. You can also get a hormone paste which encourages rooting on whips, never used it myself as I prefer the natural way.

[Andy H]

William, yeah I know what you mean, I really meant from the point of view that more will be growing in the end in 2 places... :)

[William O]

I know, and agree....  ;D

I'm member of a volunteer group that does some conservation work with coppicing an pollarding. This year I'm taking some of the replantable material home and will give some away too...