Twigs in the Garden
I love using twigs, branches, sticks, logs, wood chips, leaves and other natural materials in the habitat garden. The benefits of using natural materials in gardening extend beyond saving you money and keeping natural and man made materials out of landfills. Natural materials also provide habitat and food for numerous beneficial species and contribute to the vitality of your soil as organic matter.
Obelisks and Plant Supports
Yellow Twig dogwood and willow.
Drying and then steaming willow gives a lovely reddish gold hue and will infuse your home with the questionably pleasant scent of boiled trees.
The yellow stripe in the middle is made of Pacific Willow, a PNW native that is so ornamental it seems like it must be a cultivar but isn’t.
A set of obelisks on their way to Nature’s Haven nursery.
Redtwig Dogwood hearts. These will probably start growing if left in the ground long enough.
Peony Crown in progress
Obelisks and Plant Supports
Peony Crown doing it’s job well.
Red and Yellow Twig Dogwood Obelisk
Close up detail of red and yellow twig dogwood obelisk.
Upright Willow Perennial Support. Place this over floppy perennials such as douglas aster, coneflower, goldenrod etc. in Spring before they get more than a few inches tall. Stake into the ground well and it will support those late fall flowers in the wind and rain!
Twisty Willow and Hazel Obelisk
Willow Obelisk
Fun Twiggy Projects
Willow Flower
Colorful Willow Sphere
Crazy Cat Bed
All sorts of experiments.
Little Willow Trees
Willow Heart
Willow in the Garden
Willow Plant Support after a few years outside.
New varieties of Willow I’m growing this year.
Willow flower fading into Fall.
Willow sphere in the garden.
It’s always a good time to ask a landscaping crew if you can have their yard “debris”.
Willow sculpture by elementary students, I love the way it turned out.
Woven Retaining Wall
Eroding muddy slope needs some support.
Used biodegradable burlap rolls to help shore up slope behind new wall.
Adding colorful weavers to finish the wall.
Finished wall planted with plant cuttings that will further stabilize the slope.
More plants!
View from the sidewalk.
Nature Play Space
Nature play space December 2022
Willow Play House Construction winter of 2022-23
Close Up Detail
Willow House Installed and living redtwig dogwood dome woven April 26 2023
In full leaf September 6th 2023
February 7th 2024, time to trim the top growth.
Willow Varieties I Grow
Dormant cuttings available in winter, rooted cuttings available in Spring, rooted gallon pots may be available in some varieties at other times of year.
Please contact me if you live locally to Vancouver/ Camas WA and are interested in pricing and availability.
Pacific NW Native Willows (Portland Plant List)
Pacific Willow Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra
Sitka Willow Salix sitchensis
Scouler Willow Salix scouleriana
Hooker’s Willow Salix hookeriana
Columbia River Willow Salix exigua var. columbiana (I’m only about 80% sure on my ID of this one, would love input from an expert if you happen to know any…)
Salix Purpurea (Fine Basketry Willows)
‘Packing Twine’
‘Dicky Meadows’
‘Green Dicks’
‘Parking Lot’ (this isn’t a real name but it is the willow commonly grown in parking lots in East Vancouver).
Colorful Stem Varieties
fragilis f. Vitellina ‘Britzensis’
fragilis f. Vitellina ‘Fransgeel Rood’
fragilis f. Vitellina ‘Flame Red’
myrsinifolia ‘Blackskin’
Curly Willow ‘Golden Curls’
Curly Willow ‘Flame’
Coarse Basketry Willows
Salix eriocephala x petiolaris ‘Americana’
daphnoides ‘Continental Purple’
All above listed PNW Natives would go in this category too.
New this year
Viminalis ‘Bowles Hybrid
triandra ‘Black Maul’ X ‘Grisette Noire’
Salix purpurea ‘Bleu’
Salix purpurea ‘Leicestershire Dicks’
Salix triandra ‘Black Maul’
Other plants I grow that produce excellent weavers and uprights:
Oregon Beaked hazelnut (PNW Native)
Red Twig Dogwood (PNW Native)
Pacific Ninebark (PNW Native - for uprights, not weavers)
Yellow Twig Dogwood