weaving the willow (Knot Garden 2015/2017)

 

It’s been a couple of years since I wove willow around blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) stumps near the chalk pond at Stave Hill Ecological Park. That summer it looked something like what you see pictured above.

Nettles, garlic mustard and goosegrass were abundant and later on taken by new blackthorn shoots. This year I cut is all these back, ahead of birds nesting in the new thicket, and added freshly cut willow styakes from a pollarded fence nearby to the existing low fedges – see also this post from more info and images.

I might weave a few more stakes before the new spring growth prevents me from doing so and hides the work once again. I’m hoping this time to make a better job of documenting the transformation on the ground in the coming months. Keep you posted… 

flying fedges (round the fruit tree and back again)

The project referred to in the previous post involves creating meandering fedges across the steep slopes of the site at the Darlington YMCA, one of the ideas I suggested to Sally Reckert after at meeting her at The Festival of Thrift last year.

The current plan is to work with a number of community groups to create the fedges out of materials collected on site, as well as other local green areas. Once completed the fedges will make the garden more accessible, provide resting points, create new pathways and offer residents and visitors new sightlines over the city. We used various types of wood as well as green willow with view of it growing and  providing more foliage and material to weave into the fedge over time.

Looking at these images now I realise how much this project drew inspiration from previous work such as  Panoramic Pathways at Nottingham Castle and Museum and Art Gallery, as well as an installation I'm currently working on at Stave Hill Ecological Park, using pollarded willow around black coppiced blackthorn shrubs. I'll upload images of this last installation in my next post, meanwhile here are few that will take you on a journey around the site at the YMCA.

on fedges and efficiency

getting ready...

I have decided on one resolution only for 2015, that is be more efficient. As far as writing on this blog however and with almost three months now since the last post, it’s maybe fair to say sticking to this resolution has proved to be a total disaster!

getting steady...

This is not for lack of business though or things to write about. Recent projects combined with lecturing simultaneously on three courses at UAL has got in the way of keeping weeklyweaves up to date. So, writing this now and preparing the next few posts, I'm remedying this while working hard at making this process more efficient.

go...

Casting my mind back over the last few weeks, periodically working outdoors at Stave Hill Ecological Park and a project at the YMCA in Darlington has been the greatest source of inspiration, not least for the people I have met when working at both sites.

and repeat...

This includes Dave Bent, a volunteer gardener who assisted me building fedges with a group from Just the Job, using ash stakes and other wood collected from for the site at the YMCA. I was really taken by Dave’s efficient way of making a fedge using laurel.  Here’s a few images illustrating how he does it. Dave discovered this method by chance while working on the site, and an efficient and economical one it is too. Thanks Dave, I hope you don't mind me taking a leaf out of your book in the future!

job done!