HOW TO ORDER WILLOW, FIND HEDGEROW MATERIALS AND IMPROVE YOUR BASKETS

ORDERING WILLOW
  • Brown is natural unpeeled willow which looks a greenish colour
  • Buff is boiled and peeled and is a reddish brown colour
  • Steamed is dropped into the boiling water after the buff is removed and is a rich shiny chocolate brown
  • White is peeled in spring and is white to start with, going honey coloured with age
  • Green is fresh willow for living willow plantings
  • Sticks are sturdy two year old buff rods used for handles and frames
  • Brown, steamed and buff are available for most of the year; white has to be ordered specially and set aside, green is available in the spring
  • Traditionally willow has been sold by the bolt and by the height, 3 ft, 4ft, 5 ft and so on but PH Coates and other growers now have online ordering and they also sell by weight (kilos).  They also have a helpful guide to the amount of rods you can expect to have per bundle on their website

SOAKING WILLOW
  • Buff and white ; soak in clean water for an hour.
  • Mellow in a damp cloth in a cool place for a further hour
  • Use within two days or dry out again. 
  • Brown and steamed ; soak in water for the equivalent of a day a foot eg 3 days for 3 foot rods
  • Mellow in a thick dry cloth or blanket in a cool place for a further day or more  until the rods can be bent without kinking
  • You can keep brown willow ready for use like this over a couple of weeks.
  • You can keep in a freezer if you have space and defrost for use.  ( I have never tried this myself!)

GATHERING MATERIALS 
  • You can find and  collect many useful basketry materials from the hedgerow at all times of the year.  
  • General rule of thumb is that if you can wrap it round your hand you can use it in a basket.  
  • In winter look for dog wood, snowberry, shoots of holly, beech and birch twigs, larch, shoots of hardwood trees which grow round the base such as lime, ivy, honeysuckle. 
  • Store in a cool dark place.
  • Hedgerow material or freshly cut willow will keep supple for several weeks but it will shrink in the basket if used too soon leaving gaps
  • It should be left to ‘clang’, ie shrink but not dry out and harden
  • Pick plenty
  • In summer look for bulrush, field rush, montbretia and iris leaves. 
  • Store in a cool dark place, preferably hanging up.
  • Dry out and then damp down to use by spraying with a plant spray or watering with a watering can.


PREPARING MATERIALS
  • Choose materials carefully
  • Soak what you need
  • Soak for longer in cold weather
  • To speed up soaking use hot water
  • Boil brown willow for several hours to make it pliable and give a shiny finish
  • Mellow all material; this gives the enzymes a chance to work and start breaking down the structure of the rods
  • Dry out leftovers as quickly as possible if you cannot use them
  • Soaked  brown /steamed willow can be left wrapped up in a dry cloth in a cool place and will keep supple for at least a week, often longer
  • It can also be kept in the freezer and defrosted when needed
  • Choose good thick base sticks, thin weavers for bases, well matched stakes, even and carefully chosen weavers for siding
  • If you have unpromising or hedgerow material try ‘tipping up’ - match at the tips and cut off the butt ends.  

BASES
  • The base is the foundation of the basket; it should be even, domed if necessary, with the base sticks at regular intervals and in the same plane
  • Oval bases are easier to make using very sturdy sticks. 
  • If an oval base starts to warp try turning over and continue pairing or pair at the ends and rand down the sides
  • Trim before staking up

UPSETTING
  • You can start with tips on smaller baskets but butts are preferable for bigger basket.

SIDING
  • Try using two rods less than the number of stakes when you are French randing - this means you can keep going round and round without that awkward moment when you have to sort out the last couple of rods and make sure they are correct.  
  • Sort your rods carefully for slewing - you can use up odds and ends but sort them out by length and use up in order so that you always have a group of rods which are nicely matched and give an even result.
  • There are many variations of English randing - eg you can go in front of two behind one then ordinary rand and this creates a strong spiral effect

STAKES
  • If you are short of materials try tipping up - ie match up at the tips and then cut off any excess at the butts - sometimes you will find it easier to match a set of stakes like this especially with hedgerow materials.