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Willow nursery

Thanks for your interest in the Wondertree nursery. We currently sell over 300 varieties that fall into the following broad categories:

Basketry willows

  • Biomass willows
  • Coloured stem willows
  • Dwarf willows
  • Fantastic foliage
  • Ground cover willows
  • Pussy willows
  • Tree willows
  • Twisted trees
  • Weeping willows

Testimonials

I've just had a very, very happy couple of hours reading and learning more about willows on your web site.  Fantastic site!

Deb Smith, California

Thankyou so much for the wonderful willow. It arrived at 12 noon on Saturday just as Brian was opening his cards and gifts with the family

Helen Scofield, Henley

Thanks for your excellent customer service

Spirituality and religion

Activity 1        Rock a bye your baby in a willow cradle

One of our simplest activities - buy or commission a unique cradle from a local basket maker. A truly beautiful item for your babies’ nursery.

Activity 10      Make a sacred willow stick for a new born child

Survival skills and primitive ways

Activity 22      Make a Willow Whistle

This activity shows you how to create music by making a simple whistle using willow stems. All you need is some coppice willow rods that are straight and free of knots. Try this with different coloured stems in March-May when the bark is easy to peel.

Activity 37      The use of wattle and daub in timber frame construction

Sport, leisure and pastimes

Activity 2        Learn some new words to use in a game of SCRABBLE®

The game of SCRABBLE is is by far the most popular word game ever, selling over 100 million sets. Simply by reading these activities you will be introduced to the colourful vocabulary associated with willows and rural crafts. Many of the words used are 4-6 letters long and will keep you one step ahead of your rivals when you play the game.

Medicinal and food

Activity 3        Soothe your sore throat

Willow bark has been used for thousands of years for its excellent medicinal and pain relieving qualities. It contains the chemical compound salicin, a chemical related to acetylsalicylic acid, which in its synthetic form is known as aspirin. The recipe in this activity can be used as a natural remedy against colds and sore throats.

Science and botany

Activity 5         Learn to identify some willows

There are hundreds of willow species. These 101 activities use many different species and you might feel a little daunted about where to start. However, the majority of tasks can be performed with just a handful of willows. This activity looks at five species native or naturalised to Britain and five native to North America. 

Arts and crafts

Activity 4         Make a willow star

This is a really simple activity that could be performed with a class of primary school children. I did it at my daughters 2nd birthday party and it proved a hit with her friends. All you need is some pliant willow rods.

Activity 15       Draw a picture with artists' charcoal

101 things to do with willows

There are perhaps grander trees than willows and certainly many others with superior timber. But with willows you get a bit of everything. The usefulness of willows owes a great deal to their long, straight, slender, supple but strong shoots which make them perfect for basketry, weaving and other traditional crafts. Many activities such as living sculptures and screens would be impossible but for their ability to grow from cuttings and to produce rapid growth following the seemingly brutal cutting back as coppice and pollards.

What makes a Wonder Tree?

With willows it is the blend of beauty, diversity, adaptability, but above all usefulness whichmarksthem aside from many other temperate trees.

You can’t deny the tremendous virtues of oak and beech but when you plant these trees you are growing them for the future. With willow, you can watch a tree mature to full size within your own life time, or alternatively you can cut it down every year and it will produce new shoots that can be used as the raw material for any number of useful products and activities.

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