Pieter Janszoon Saenredam project
"A temporary pontoon bridge makes it very
easy to take the branches ashore. They will be used in the
osiers in the wetlands along the dikes of the river Oude
Maas. The white willow (Salix Alba) is very easy to
propagate; you just have to drill a hole with a hand auger -
50cm or preferably deeper, cut a chisel shape on the end of
a branch and put it in the hole. If the soil is (kept)
wet enough it will grow. Planting in early spring is best.
And when the groundwater level is near the surface, like in
Holland, you are very lucky.
I have hand augured hundreds of planting
holes for my willow projects, always auguring the holes as
deep as I can - to keep the branches from being turned by
the wind (or even worse - by people) just when the delicate
roots start forming. Since my first willow project,
round -
in the garden of the Dordrecht Museum in Holland, the
willows which have not rooted can be counted on the fingers
of one hand - even when you are missing some."
Lucien den Arend
2006 - pollarding the willows of the in Barendrecht,
Holland
