Making a Traditional Round Willow Basket

Choosing and Preparing Your Willow

Brown willow, cut from a hedgerow in winter and dried with the bark on, is the traditional choice for a working garden basket. It is tough, forgiving and softens beautifully once soaked. Buff willow — bark stripped and dried to a honey colour — is smoother and far quicker to prepare, which makes it a sensible choice for a first attempt. White willow sits between the two, paler and tidier, though slightly less hardwearing.

Soaking matters more than any other single step. Buff willow needs only twenty to thirty minutes in a bath of cold water. Brown willow wants roughly a day per foot of length, so 1.2 m rods need four or five days, weighed down with a brick so they stay under. Once soaked, drain the rods and wrap them in a damp cloth or an old blanket for a few hours, or overnight, so the moisture spreads evenly through the wood. Willow that has mellowed bends without snapping; willow straight out of the bath still cracks.

For a basket around 30 cm across you will want:

• roughly 100–120 rods, in a mix of thick, medium and fine
• sharp secateurs and a sharp knife
• a bodkin — a steel spike with a wooden handle
• a rapping iron, or a length of steel bar with a hook bent at one end
• a weight or brick to hold the work steady

Building the Slath

The slath is the crossed centre of the base, and everything else grows from it. Take four rods of similar thickness, about 75 cm long, and lay them side by side. Take a fifth, slightly finer rod and weave it over and under across the four. Take a sixth and weave it at right angles to the first. You now have a cross with four arms and a firm, flat centre.

Begin pairing. Take two weavers, lay one over the other, bend them round the first arm, and weave over and under alternate arms, always crossing the two weavers over one another between the arms. Pull each weaver tight after every pass — a loose base cannot be rescued later. After a few rounds a God's eye forms in the middle, and this is the moment the basket starts to feel like a basket.

When the base is about 10 cm across, split each arm into two by driving the bodkin between the rods, giving you eight stakes. Carry on pairing, keeping the base flat by pressing it down on the table, until it measures 20–25 cm across. Finish with a row of three-rod wale to lock the stakes in place.

The Upsett and Staking Up

The upsett is the sharp turn where the base becomes the sides, and it is what gives a round basket its strength. Soak the bend area again if it has stiffened, then bend each stake firmly upwards over your thumb or the edge of a table. Work steadily — a kink will crease the rod and it will break weeks later, when the basket is in use.

Hold the stakes upright with three rows of three-rod wale. Insert three rods behind three consecutive stakes and weave: each rod passes in front of two stakes and behind one, and you always pick up the rod that has just come free. Rap the weave down firmly after every row with the rapping iron, so the wale sits tight against the one below.

Shaping the Sides

Randing is the workhorse weave for the body. Take single rods, one at a time, and weave over one stake and under the next. Add a new rod by laying it alongside the old one for a few stakes before you cut the old one off, and always leave the ends on the inside. Randing leaves a gentle diagonal line that spirals up the basket.

Shaping is done with your fingers, not with force. As you weave, ease the stakes outwards or inwards a little at a time. For a traditional basket with a slight belly, let the sides flare gently for the first 8–10 cm, then bring them straight up. Rotate the basket constantly and check the rim line by eye; a basket that looks right from one side all too often leans from the other.

Weave to the height you want, then work three rows of waling at the top to stiffen the edge before the rim goes on.

The Rim and Border

The top edge takes the most punishment, so it needs both a rim and a border. Lay a thick rod around the top, inside the stakes, and bind it in place with pairing. Then work a trac border: take each stake in turn, bend it over the rim and behind the next two stakes, and bring it out. Follow the previous stake each time and the border builds into an even, rope-like finish.

The last few stakes are tight — open a gap with the bodkin rather than forcing the willow. Tuck the final ends neatly down the inside of the basket and trim them flush once everything has dried.

Drying and Looking After It

Dry your basket slowly in a cool, airy place out of direct sunlight for a week or two. Willow that dries too fast shrinks unevenly and pulls itself out of shape. When it is thoroughly dry, trim any stray ends with sharp secateurs.

Brown willow baskets will last for years if you keep them dry and out of standing water. An annual soak in a water butt, followed by a slow dry, keeps the willow supple and stops the weave from going brittle. Used well and stored sensibly, a good round basket will still be gathering beans and carrying logs long after the hedgerow it came from has been cut again.