It's A Start

We have had a couple of really good days in which to get 'a start' on spring clean-up in the garden.

Ron has been trimming the Weeping Willow for the past couple of years. As you may know, these trees can get very big and ours was heading that way. So a few years ago Ron scalped it. The correct term is Coppicing . Instead of cutting back to ground level, Ron keeps the cut high.

                   Willow tree with ladder.......
It doesn't look like much here, but in the summer dozens of shoots will have grown out of where it was cut and create a globe fan-like effect.

For all you Weeping Willow fans out there, you may be asking how we could do such a thing! Well, as I said the tree was getting pretty big and blocking a lot of sun from getting to other plants. Instead of cutting the tree down we used this technique. Besides we have a regular one growing in another area......that is until Ron gets his hands on it. He loves to prune, you see.

So when I noticed all these 'whips' from the Willow on the ground I thought I could use them effectively for the deck.......until they dry out and lose their colour.

I snipped off as many as there were and put them in this container for now......till I need it.


I thought it would brighten up the winter greyness of the deck....and it did I think.

So if you have a tree that you want to 'play' with and wish it was smaller, you can try Coppicing. It will not hurt the tree.....just change it's appearance.


It's a start to a never-ending, but embraced, task of maintaining and keeping a garden.