How to Start Curly Willow Branches

Willows are incredibly easy plants to propagate. With a few simple supplies, a single long willow limb can become several new plants in as little as a growing season. Willows can be trained into fences, grown as trees or even used to create stunning topiaries and living furniture.

Willow limb cuttings

Potting soil

Slow-release fertilizer

Compost

Chopstick

Knife

Bucket

Pots

Water

Cut each willow branch into 3-inch sections. Remove all but the top three or four leaves. Set each cutting aside in a bowl of water so they do not dry out while the others are being trimmed. Scrape the thin outer bark from the leafless end of the willow branches until the soft inner bark is revealed in several places.

Thoroughly wash all pots in bleach water to prevent any future diseases. Rinse well and set aside. If the pots are natural untreated clay, soak them in water for several hours before planting, so they do not sap away any water given to the willow cuttings.

Place the potting soil and slow-release fertilizer (following manufacturer's directions) in a large bowl or bucket; mix well and water thoroughly. You want a mixture that feels like a wet sponge; do not wet it so much that it is runny. Scoop enough lightly packed soil into the pots to fill them 1 inch from their tops. Using a chopstick, poke a hole halfway through the soil in the center of each pot, then surround that hole with more holes, spaced a half inch apart.

Carefully bury each cutting halfway into the soil. Use extra soil to top off each pot, and pack it down lightly. Top off the pot with a layer of compost. Water well, until liquid pours from the drain holes.

Set each pot in an area where it receives several hours of sunlight a day. Water the willow starts whenever the soil begins to feel dry.

When the plants have more than tripled in size, transplant them by removing the entire clump of willow cuttings from their pots. Using a strong jet of water, rinse the roots while gently untangling them with your fingers. Using a fertilizer-soil mixture as in step 3 above, plant each individual rooted cutting in its own pot.

Alternately, you can plant it in your garden. To do so, dig holes one to two feet deep and wide. Fill the holes with compost and a slow release fertilizer, and place a plant in the center of the holes. Mulch well.

To plant the willows as a living fence, dig a trench one to two feet deep and as long as needed. Plant as you would in your garden, and mulch the entire row with a few inches of good compost.

Water whenever the soil begins to feel dry. As the plants grow, trim off any unneeded limbs and root them the same way as before. Rooting hormone is not needed as willows produce their own.