Although March is a busy month, there is something that I prioritise in the first days, before leaves begin to burst: coppicing hazel, dogwood and willow for their stems that fulfil a multitude of practical garden needs.
I always start with hazel, after the catkins have been enjoyed with snowdrops in February. You will, of course, have to sacrifice nuts for a year. But since hazels are normally coppiced on a cycle of every three to seven years, with a little thought and rotation you can have a nut-bearing bush or two each year.
Even if you have plenty of space to grow hazel as a small tree, it is worth coppicing because the stems are so useful – a regularly coppiced hazel produces as many strong, thick stems for pea and bean supports as your heart desires.
I use the twiggiest ends of the stems to weave little upside-down baskets, through which the young shoots of tall herbaceous plants like Michaelmas daisies and delphiniums can grow in April.
The entire stems make good, tall tripods through which clematis and sweet peas may grow. If you add horizontal weavings of pliable willow prunings (a band at the top, one centrally and one at the base) it makes them not only stronger, but just as pretty as the ready-made tripods you buy in the garden centre.
Try planting the filbert (just another kind of hazel) – particularly wine-flushed Corylus maxima ‘Purpurea’, since the foliage gives pleasure in summer, as well supplying you with noisettes.
If anything, willows are even more valuable than hazels, especially if you are looking to add garden structure with a personal touch. The range of stem colour in olives, purples and yellows is eye- catching during the early spring, a perfect complement to the daffodils of March.
Special favourites are the silvery-purple growth of Salix daphnoides ‘Continental Purple’, deep black S. myrsinifolia ‘Nigricans’ and bright yellow S. alba ‘Chermesina Yelverton’; for pre-foliage interest, the fluffy, dark purple flowers of S. gracilistyla ‘Melanostachys’ and twisted stems of S. matsudana ‘Tortuosa’ are worth seeking out.
One of the beauties (or curses) of willow is that it will root whenever you put it in the ground. This vigour means that as you cut back willows in March, you can also create a rather trendy gardening feature, otherwise known as the ‘fedge’.
Using long, straight canes of willow the ‘fedge’ supplies a living fence of diamond shapes, glistening and covered with soft grey-green willow foliage in the summer months.
Both formal and natural, it is the perfect boundary in any kind of garden – and it can be planted to create curves as well as straight lines.
The brightly coloured cultivars of Salix alba (the ‘cricket bat’ willow) lend themselves best to a ‘fedge’, as does the common, but stronger growing osier, S. viminalis.
Prepare the ground first by removing turf and forking over – you could also lay landscaping fabric and insert your willow rods through slits if time is short. The rods should be planted not less than 15cm apart and allowed to grow on with two shoots each in the first season.
When you have rods of the right length – prune any side shoots – take both strong stems coming from each single plant and bend them in opposite directions at a 45 degree angle to weave diamond shapes.
They should be criss-crossed over and under each other and the points at which the stems cross over tied firmly. You can speed things and do this all at once by making every second rod you plant bend at a 45 degree angle opposite to its neighbour. The ‘fedge’ will need pruning every year.
You can be more adventurous with willow and move on to create complex sculptures in the garden. When planting, try going to an online nursery like ‘World of Willow’ – they will supply hardwood cuttings to start your collection (delivered cheaply to France), as well as advice on basket-making.
The beauty of coloured stems is that their flames of light perfectly compliment the daffodils in March. I am fond of the upswept wings of the Cyclamineus cultivars, such as yellow and orange ‘Jack Snipe’, yellow and white ‘Peeping Jenny’ and white-flowered ‘Jenny’. They are more satisfying in a woodland or wilder setting than large, blowsy trumpets.
There is a sacrifice, every year or so, of your crafted early spring picture when you coppice. But the shorter, well-branched stems of dogwood make ideal pea sticks – and just at the right time, when you are making your first sowings!
MONTHLY TIPS
If, like me, your garden begins to grow quite hot at the same time as you begin to get moving on the veggie plot, remember to water the base of your drills before you sow.
And try a layer of fleece over the top to protect – if you spray the fleece over regularly, it helps to keep the germinating seed moist and cooler.
A layer of straw would also work well. In hot climates, carrots need to be sprayed over daily to get them to germinate – and early carrots are the sweetest, so sow as early as possible.
OVER TO YOU
In a month when we are all busy with seed, I would like to hear about your special sowing techniques, and what you think about the use of peat-based seed and potting composts? Is there a European brand you use to avoid peat? Email me at: editorial@connexionfrance.com.
Read Cathy’s garden blog at gardendreamingatchatillon.wordpress.com
