Finding and Discerning good Ditch Willows

Written by Maryann Borch edited by Cathie Harper for the Alberta Natural Baskets Facebook Group

Learning to train your eye for the right kinds of willow may take time and a few forays out of your car. The ideal sites are in a safe off the road location and you can walk right up to the patch you see. Always ask property owners if they are okay with your cutting their willow.

What to look for

You are looking for willows in their first year of growth, after a road crew, or floating ice chunk, or grader blade has cut them down to the ground the year before. I look along railroads and service roads as they are nice to park beside safely. The Line-of-sight crew has often been around to make sure cars can see trains or other cars. Or sometimes under power lines; although willows don’t generally grow that tall, some zealous chainsaw wielders do seem to think they are a threat to electric conductivity, and so the willows are cut and we weavers can benefit.

When to collect

This is best done once leaves are off the plant, until they start to grow again. So, it’s a winter pastime.

Cathie collects in the fall after the first frosts and after the leaves have fallen until late October or until it gets too cold (below -20) and the snow gets too deep. She starts collecting again in the spring after it is warmer and much of the snow is gone AND until the leaves start to flush. Once the leaves start to flush the sap is moving up the stem and the bark will tear. In time and using map pinning, you can even coppice (cut the entire clump down to the ground) a patch and keep that stash growing for years to come.

Conservation considerations:

I like to leave willows where I know wildlife will benefit, moose (deer) browse or bee spring food are two things I consider. So, yet another reason to confine collecting to roads where we then hopefully dissuade the moose from getting too close to those cars! Flowers are present on two-year-old growth and so I tend to leave those long branches for the bees, and stick to the first-year growth.

What to collect

For most projects a 3 foot rod that is thinner than 5mm (pencil thickness) at the base is a great weaver. Native willows are often thicker than that at 3 feet though, so learning to make a basket first, will also help you learn what thickness of weavers you can hope for. The 4-5 foot lengths result in correspondingly thicker butt ends, suitable for uprights and perhaps at the thickest, for willow trellises or ribs for melon-type baskets. These are often as thick as a pencil. Thicker are ok, but keep in mind the project you will be using before you cut, or be prepared to design something with what you have cut. This group is great for suggestions so please post your questions for certain finds here. Knowing what a weaver and an upright is helps too!

From Cathie: You can collect and then sort more thicknesses of willow than above.

As I cut everything down, I do a rough sort in the field, where I get rid of any very branchy rods, but branchy rods may have long side branches that you can still cut off to use, too short ones (less than one foot), etc. for poor rods.

Once home, while I sort, I will remove any little branchlets on the rods, and then normally will prune all but one clump of branchlets at the top of the rods. I then look at sorting them into four to six different thickness from about a cable thickness (3 mm for fine weavers) to pencil thickness (for weavers) and then thicker for uprights and then the thickest for support, frames, handle cores, etc. I then may sort them by length to help fine tune functionality.

There is not anything over two feet in length that I can’t use. Two feet long thin ones can be used for French randing or slewing. Long thin ones can be used for the base. Different thicknesses for (longest) walers or regular weavers. Even rods that are curved are still collected, they just bend easier when using. I often cut off base stakes from the bottoms of suitable rods (as they may now be able to fit in the bath tub (in colder weather) or the kiddie pool and 4 foot water trough (in warmer weather), and even from the branchy rods could have a suitable base stake before the branches start. This is more time initially but will make it easier when you actually go to make a basket as you know what you have and then can sort out all what you will need for the basket and have it ready for use when you need it for the basket.

Maintaining a wild patch

Willow is very prolific and will always come back after cutting so in general you will not damage the willow clump by cutting it all down. If you are in the mood to maintain a patch for future weaving endeavors, you will need to cut every last rod that is poking out of the snow. Any left behind would have all the stored energy that is in the roots, to grow itself silly by next fall. There would be some new growth, but those already established first years would dominate. So, if you want one, first years’ worth of growth, you will need to be thorough. I have had a dogwood patch going for three years now, so Willow is not the only one suitable for this stewardship.

Growing your own patch

If you crave your own patch on your own land, there are three growers that I can name here in Canada that grow basketry willow and have good information about the species that they have. Be sure to ask if those species you are purchasing are from basketry traditions and not shelterbelt or erosion species. Lene Rasmussen from Lakeshore Willows in Wainfleet, Ontario and Rosemary Ishkanian from Willow Wood Farm, Vancouver Island are two fantastic sources. Cathie has purchased dried willow from The Branch Ranch in Lakefield, Ontario(The Branch Ranch). They also have cuttings. If you are interested in close to Alberta option, I share our cuttings with those who help with maintenance of the Sally gardens and Willow Labyrinth here at Good Note Community Farm. Many hands make light work and educated hands 😊 In the end it is a great way to blend being in the outdoors with gathering your own materials that are ethical and regenerative. Have fun willow hunting.