Permaculture Project: Willow Trellis

Permaculture Garden Project:  Willow Trellis

A perfect fall garden project!  The plan is to collect as many uprights and rungs as needed and make the ladders before gathering benders. The trees in this area have been coppiced and are a wonderful fit for this project. There are also  many variations on a theme: Woven Willow, Mini Fence, Trellis, Arbor, etc.
Here is a great link on how to build willow trellises:

Creating a Willow Trellis - Wis. Public TV

The beginning goal was to cut 24 each willow  - 12 for the ladder uprights, and 12 to cut into the ladder rungs. 

The first trip yielded 10 ladder / rung possiblities all at least 5 ft tall.

Next time out I will also use a small saw and a larger lopper.

These are all a minimum of 2" at the base, before cut to length.

Here is a finished project using Woven Willow from the Mother Earth News:

 

Willow ladder uprights - side branches removed, not cut to size

Besides the valuable link above, here are some illustrations from an old book on building rustic furniture from Smith Book Press, "How to Build Rustic Furniture" 1991. These were a good series although I am not sure if it is still in print. If you can find it, buy it!