Trees
A variety of different woods are used in our products and, on this page, we'll be regularly profiling the trees from which they are sourced.
Why not tell us about your favourite tree? Simply complete our handy form and we may even use your comments on our site.
Profile: Willow
Although willows can be divided into three groups the ones most people recognise are from the primary group - the white willow (salix alba), the crack willow (salix fragilis) and the weeping willow (salix babylonica). They are natural throughout Britain and grow in damp places along streams and rivers.
The white willow can grow slightly taller to 80 feet in fifteen years and can be differentiated from the crack willow by its silvery green leaves. A twig from a crack willow will easily break away with an obvious crack or snap. All are deciduous and have long narrow leaves and can regenerate either by seed or vegetatively by twigs falling and propogating in the soft soil along river banks. The soft, damp ground means the trees have a tendency to be top heavy and split down the middle leaving it open to fungal infection. For this reason willows were often coppiced or pollarded allowing for rapid, healthier, longer growth. Annual growth can be substantial meaning that a 70 year willow could have a similar girth (20 feet) to a 300 year old oak.
Fast growth meant that a pollarded tree would quickly provide many sturdy poles, used in the past by boat, coracle, cart and house builders. The Celts made their chariot wheel spokes from it and the gypsies their pegs. The leaves provided fodder for cattle and horses. The bark was used in tanning leather and the wood is still burned to produce artists' charcoal. Salicylic acid, the main constituent of aspirin was also extracted from its bark. Willow's unique medicinal properties were used for over 2,000 years to protect against diseases caused by damp conditions. Its strong, pale wood has been used to make artificial limbs, polo balls, cricket bats and stumps where it readily absorbs shocks without splintering. It's still popular in basketry and as woven landscape sculptures. They evolve and grow if the willow is allowed to take root. Willow twigs were also used for water divining.
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