Black Willow as an Artistically Crafted Canopy

The Salix genus comprises an enormous and diverse arrangement of woody perennials, from the tundra’s low growing Salix arctica, to the whimsically weeping Salix babylonica that enchants many American gardens. Hundreds of varieties of willow fill numerous niches. This article will focus on Black Willow, Salix nigra, and our first-hand observations of the numerous yields it has provided in our garden.

In our tightly managed 1/4 acre backyard edible forest garden, a Black Willow tunnel is nestled in among the fruit trees, enclosing a 12’ Black Cherry table. This is the family hangout and workspace from Spring to Fall. While the tunnel was designed and built to offer shade to an otherwise relentlessly sunny young food forest, it has surprised us with numerous additional yields. It’s apparent that the wildlife in the garden is as pleased with the willow as we are. This article will take a look into our experiences with a willow tunnel in the food forest landscape.

When we add plants to the forest garden, we’re concerned with getting the most “bang for our buck”. Our designs are intended to make the best use of small spaces to accommodate the petite property that we call home. As permaculturists, we want plants to ‘stack functions’, squeezing more yield out of the limited space at our disposal. We often look at the primary function of a plant as the human yield; fruit, shade, building materials, elegance. But, we want each plant to do more for the system than to simply provide for us. We want it to thrive among it’s neighbors, offer services to the wildlife, and make an impact to the habitat of the garden itself. Let’s look at what it has to offer, but also consider conditions that do not favor willow plantings.

Wildlife Value

The birds, bees and beneficial insects all live more luxuriously among these trees. Approximately 50 young Black willow trees line our main gathering space, trained to cross and arch their way over our dinner table. Black willow is a native tree to our area in New York state, and thus many of the native flora and fauna have evolved to thrive in it’s presence. Katydids lay their eggs on the bark. Numerous butterflies and beetles use black willow as a larval host, and the catkin flowers provide one of the first sources of pollen for bees. The leaf litter that willow provides in the fall creates the conditions for an excellent microhabitat for invertebrates and arthropods to call home, cultivating a lusciously nutritious layer of soil.

Additionally, we’ve observed birds change their flight patterns among the yard since the canopy of the willow has disrupted the previously open yard. Birds that once flew high above our heads and had no perching habitat within the early succession garden, would flit to the edges where they found brushy growth and trees. Now, with the dense growth of the willow, they comfortably fly low, nearby, and perch all around us. They are also much closer to the vegetative growth of the yard that caterpillars, worms and insects rely upon, preying upon these critters, and reducing populations for a mutually beneficial arrangement. The relationship that the birds have with the garden has been radically transformed by this highly maintained willow as it mimics their preferred habitat of shrubby growth among a meadow. Everyone is happy, except possibly for the tomato hornworms and Japanese beetles.

A necessary early step when creating a garden design is to assess the abiotic factors of the site. Abiotic factors are physical considerations in the garden that are not easily changed, including sun, wind, soil texture, precipitation, drainage and more. At the introduction of the willow tunnel, our yard was only beginning to transform from a grassy yard to a food forest, and we deeply desired a shady refuge from the sun, so shade was the main purpose. Willow’s tight, dense branching makes for an excellent shade tree, and it’s quick growth meant that we only waited a year to experience that shade. Not bad.

However, the same branching pattern that provided the shade we craved, also serves as a considerable wind break, especially if pruning is avoided. Willow roots are both praised and loathed for their ability to find and collect water in the soil. This can be useful in a water retaining yard, or as erosion control along riverbanks, but nefarious if planted within range of your sewer line or septic system. Keep in mind, roots stretch long and wide, so be sure to leave plenty of space between a willow planting and buried systems that need protecting.

Aesthetic

When it comes to the visual appeal in a garden, everyone has their own style. Some like to use gardens to enhance the architecture of a historic home. Others prefer to minimize the appearance of human influence, creating an ambiance of elf sung grace within the winding branches of a mystical forest. Books such as Living Willow Sculpture by Jon Warnes, and organizations such as The Living Willow Farm in Roseville, Ohio, show inspiring images of numerous weaving patterns. But, you are only limited by your imagination when it comes to the way you design, plant and maintain willow in your garden.

You can braid living willow posts to hold an entrance garden gate. Living willow fences can encircle a garden to provide deer protection. Willow can be planted in a tight circle and meet at the top to build a child’s playhouse. Willow can be bent and intertwined to create a bench or chair to rest on. The ideas are limitless. Let your imagination run wild!

Biomass, Nutrient Cycling, and Microclimate

While putting on great amounts of biomass throughout the growing season, willow is also carving it’s roots through the garden under our feet. These roots are mining for nutrients and water, cycling those resources through to it’s leaves, and ultimately, creating a rich, moisture retaining microclimate under it’s canopy. The fallen leaves provide habitat for a healthy soil food web and nutrient cycling. The resilience of this species allows heaving pruning, and rough weaving, without concern of irreparable damage or death to the tree. We’ve found that a shedding buck prefers to rub his antlers on our public food forest’s living willow fence, as opposed to the fruit trees. The willow heals much more easily than the fruit trees, so this is a very fortunate surprise.

Yield

Willow has been used for thousands of years as a resource for basket weaving. Look to resources such as Bonnie Gale’s English Basketry Willows in Norwich, NY for classes and literature on crafting with willow. I’m especially fond of Bonnie’s kitchen baskets and would quite like to retrofit my lower kitchen cabinets with these!

As our willow needs frequent pruning, we have a never-ending supply of willow posts, stakes, waddle fence material, and garden markers. We use the smaller sections as ‘chop and drop’ mulch – tossing them to the garden floor to be processed by the arthropods and microbial life into rich soil.

Finally, cuttings in the spring make excellent willow rods, ready to be planted by other gardeners who are planning to weave their own shady, beautiful and wildlife welcoming willow structures.