Weaving a Willow Plant Support for Climbing Plants

Why Willow Is the Perfect Partner for Climbing Plants

There is something quietly satisfying about growing sweet peas up a support you made yourself from a bundle of whips cut on a January morning. Willow is cheap, abundant, and wonderfully forgiving to work with. Freshly cut rods are supple enough to bend into curves without snapping, yet they dry rigid, so the structure keeps its shape for two or three seasons before it starts to soften and rot.

You do not need a riverside or a basket-weaving course to try this. A few long rods, a sharp pair of secateurs, and half an hour in the garden will do it. The result is a rustic obelisk or teepee that looks far better among the borders than anything plastic, and it costs nothing if you know where to look for material.

Gathering and Preparing Your Willow

The best time to cut is midwinter, when the shrubs are dormant and the sap is down. Look for vigorous varieties with long, straight annual growth: common osier, purple willow, or the coloured stems of scarlet and golden willow all work beautifully. Ask a friend with a willow hedge, or take a walk along a canal path and see what has been coppiced recently — many councils cut back waterside willows in winter and leave the prunings in piles.

• Length: aim for rods of 1.8 to 2.4 metres. Shorter ones can be woven in as horizontal bands.
• Thickness: pencil-thick is ideal for uprights; thinner whips bend more easily around the structure.
• Freshness: use them within a week of cutting if you can. If they have dried out, soak the bases in a bucket of water for three to five days to bring them back to life.
• Preparation: strip any side shoots and leaves, and cut the bottom of each rod on a sharp slant so it drives into the soil more easily.

Sort your rods into two piles: sturdy ones for the uprights and slim, flexible ones for weaving. This small bit of sorting saves a great deal of fiddling later.

Choosing Your Shape: Obelisk or Teepee

Both designs do the same job, so pick according to the space and the plant. A teepee needs nothing more than eight to twelve rods leaned together and tied at the top, and it suits runner beans, morning glory, and any vigorous climber that will happily scramble over the whole frame. An obelisk is more formal — a vertical column with a slight taper — and works beautifully in a pot or at the back of a mixed border with sweet peas or climbing nasturtiums.

For a teepee, mark out a circle roughly 40 centimetres across on the ground, then push each rod in around the edge, leaning them inwards so they meet about 1.8 metres up. For an obelisk, drive the uprights in around a 35 centimetre circle and keep them mostly vertical, tapering them in gently towards the top.

Push each rod at least 15 to 20 centimetres into the soil so it holds firm. If the ground is stony or you are working over a paved area in a large pot, stand the rods in a length of pipe or a bucket of damp sand while you weave, then lift the finished piece into place.

The Weaving Techniques You Actually Need

There are really only two moves to master, and both are simple once your hands get the rhythm.

• Plain weave: take a slim rod and pass it alternately in front of and behind each upright, working your way around the circle. Push each band down snugly against the one below so the weave stays tight.
• Tucking in ends: when a weaving rod runs out, do not tie it off. Simply bend the short end around the nearest upright and tuck it back into the weave, pointing downwards. It will disappear into the structure.

Start your first band about 20 centimetres above the soil, then add further bands every 15 to 20 centimetres as you climb. If a rod feels stiff and refuses to bend, swap it for a thinner one rather than forcing it — willow tells you very clearly when it is unhappy.

Building Up and Tying Off

Alternate the direction of each band: go clockwise for one, anticlockwise for the next. This counteracts any tendency for the whole structure to spiral as it dries. As you approach the top, bring the uprights closer together and finish with two or three tight bands to bind the neck.

For the final fastening, twist a thin rod around the gathered tops and weave the end back through the bundle. If you prefer, a length of natural jute twine works just as well and will rot away quietly as the willow takes over the job.

Stand back and check the shape. A good obelisk looks slightly irregular — that is part of its charm — but it should stand upright on its own and feel firm when you give it a gentle push.

Planting Up and Looking After It

Set your support in place in autumn or early spring, before the climbers get going. Sweet peas, runner beans, climbing French beans, nasturtiums, and even a small clematis will all take to it happily. Sow or plant two or three seedlings at the base and tie them in loosely with soft twine until they find their own way.

Willow supports last two to three years outdoors. To extend their life, lift them in autumn, dry them somewhere airy, and store them over winter. When a support finally gives way, do not bin it — chop it up and add it to the compost heap, or break it into short lengths for the bottom of a pot. Then cut yourself another bundle of whips and start again. That quiet cycle of cutting, weaving, and growing is half the pleasure.