What to do with partially boggy land?

[bushcraftlearner83729]

I would again suggest you have a more in depth think about what you want to achieve. Do you want a load of slow growing curly willows? If not then don't plant them!

Do you want to make baskets or do you think you could sell basket willow? If not then dont grow them. Etc.

I've planted various willows. Some of the fast growing biomass hybrids, mainly for a wind break and to take out the excess nitrogen in a part of our land. They may eventually produce some poor quality firewood.

I am forming my views still but I want fast growing definitely because the land is quite barren and the hedgerow is thin to almost none existent in places. So I would like first and foremost fast growers for screening and privacy.

There are other great benefits though, like being able to weave so I am also interested in that as a side benefit. Also for a sustainable fuel source.

The bio mass ones on west wales willows say they are made specifically for fuel but they should work 'ok' for weaving projects too yes?

That is another good benefit, to be able to make 'benders' and other type of structures from them.

As for planting density the sites that sell cuttings will tell you, it'll be thousands per acre not 100.

Yea, so expect couple of grand then given the 200 for £235 figure from west wales willows?

One thing I am cognizant of though, if I am doing all of it alone, is how long will they be plantable for? In one sense if I bought them all at once and took me months to plant them the latter ones might not take right? On the other hand the window for selling cuttings seems to be a matter of a few months too. So it seems there might be tight time constraints either way? Depends on how long they will be plantable for if anyone can answer that for me to give me a better idea.

If it was going to be unmanageable with the time scales alone then I would consider either digger for the weed leveling so I would just have to plant or invite some good hippies for some volunteer days! I have a big network I can tap into for that if I want.

 

[bushcraftlearner83729]

Wow check this out! This looks like an incredible deal!!! https://www.yorkshirewillow-shop.co...hybrid-cuttings-x-10-000-special-offer-price/

10k for £900!!!

I think I would struggle to use them all on the 2 acres? I do have another smaller plot of under 1 acre but even then would probably be thousands left over?

I could just carpet them cheek by jowl to use them all and then some will take and others would not?

Wow, they just replied that they only plant 50cm apart and would get 40,000 on 2 acres. Surely that is for commercial and I would not need to do them that close for decent screening?

 

[Pattree]

Hawthorne hedging is traditionally planted 25cm apart in two rows 20 - 25cm apart.

May we see some pictures of your land please. Something that shows water retention, slope and context. It’s the only way any advice might be useful.

Edited to add:
As you are new here you can’t post pictures direct yet but you can post a link to your pictures elsewhere.

 

[Paul_B]

I was taught that if you had too many to plant at once then you create a slot in the ground and put them at an angle in the slot then gently press down to seal the slot. This is very much a temporary solution though and it was for whips (small trees planted for hedging or general planting).

IIRC a spade stuck in at and angle to lift the soil up then stick a some in together and close. Repeat as needed. Only for young whips though I expect willow sticks would be ok too. Whips being the small saplings often supplied for hedging or quick planting. They can grow on quicker than bigger saplings due to the root damage in the bigger ones and they have to produce more roots to take off than the smaller ones which can pretty much start growing with what roots they have that survives the move and plant. As I was told a few times by different sources.

I have also been taught that this is a quick way to plant small whips too. Vertical spade in to open up the soil, drop the whip in then close around it and move to the next tree.

Of course this is all a distant memory from my conservation volunteering a good few decades ago so it could be either misremembered or simply I was taught wrong. Others on here know a lot more about this than I do but I believe the above is right.

 

[Pattree]

We used to “heel in” fruit rootstock cuttings in sand in the autumn. ( bundled together in a sloping cut to which we’d added sand. They stayed there until spring when they were carefully extracted with the beginnings of roots.
It was in a sheltered place.

What direction is your land orientated?
What is the wind run like?

 

[bushcraftlearner83729]

We used to “heel in” fruit rootstock cuttings in sand in the autumn. ( bundled together in a sloping cut to which we’d added sand. They stayed there until spring when they were carefully extracted with the beginnings of roots.
It was in a sheltered place.

What direction is your land orientated?
What is the wind run like?

South in a valley on a gentle slope. So partially covered by the other side of the valley and trees on that side but mostly open. When the sun is out there is a fair amount of direct sunlight through the day. Made sure of this in my choice of purchasing land as I looked at some north side valley ones and they were somewhat bleak.

 

[bushcraftlearner83729]

Is dead hedging a good shout? Got lots of cut back vegetation from the previous clearing and there are some large gaps in the hedge.

 

[Broch]

Is dead hedging a good shout? Got lots of cut back vegetation from the previous clearing and there are some large gaps in the hedge.

Dead hedging is a valuable wildlife resource if there is a lack of good scrub, shrub layer, and/or healthy hedges. It can be overdone and make the place look very 'engineered' especially in ancient woodland.