Willow, Part Two

Willow arbour, just finished

I've long wanted to build something at the top corner of the garden bordering the wood. I didn't know it was going to be an arbour made of living willow.  There were a lot of willow rods left after the trellis was complete. I pushed them into the soil in an  oval around the concrete floor of the former playhouse on that spot, and started weaving.  What I had was enough to make the perimeter of my structure, but not enough for the roof. So Musgrove Willow sent another bundle, 10 to 12 feet long. It was a bit of a puzzle, how to weave a roof. Eventually, it all got  woven in together and the whole structure feels sturdy. Once the roots get established, new shoots will be woven in and it should be pretty solid. In the burning sun of a North Wales summer, we can relax in the green shade with our potato or juniper or barley drink.

The picture happens to show the two ends of the tech spectrum, with the unlovely but worthwhile solar panels on the roof of the house. The arbour itself looks over the planting in the new garden, designed for summer days.