Читать книгу The Organic Garden - Allan Shepherd - Страница 40

If you need a throne for your kingdom, how about a living willow chair? Better for the environment because you don’t have to use materials that have been shipped over great distances and processed using machinery powered by fossil fuels. Majestic and alive, like something out of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, living willow chairs carry on growing, providing fresh growth every year for you to trim and use for other willow projects such as basket making. Be careful where you plant it, though. Willow roots are notoriously aggressive and willows drink a lot of water. They’re fast growing and are good for helping to reduce the moisture content in wet soils. They will compete with vegetables so don’t plant too close to your crops. You can also make living willow hedges and arbours. Jon Warnes’s book Living Willow Sculpture is an excellent place to start, as is www.thewillowbank. com. The Willow Bank is run by Steve Pickup, one of the country’s most experienced willow growers and weavers (see below). You can pick up a bundle of willow cuttings ready for planting, a set of instructions to make your own dome and an extra DVD if you need a little bit of visual stimulation.