A living willow fence does two jobs at once: it screens a boundary, a bin store or a view you would rather not look at, and it grows while it does it. Planted from dormant rods in winter, the whips root where they meet the soil, leaf up in spring and knit into a dense green wall within a season or two. It costs far less than a run of fencing panels and goes up in an afternoon. Get the planting right and the maintenance becomes a matter of sharp secateurs and one free afternoon in late winter.

Choose the right willow and the right spot

Not every willow suits a woven fence. The workhorses are common osier (Salix viminalis), which produces long, straight, flexible rods, and purple willow (Salix purpurea), whose reddish-purple stems are even more pliable. Almond willow (Salix triandra) is a good choice where you want a taller screen. Leave the big timber willows and weeping willows alone; they are far too vigorous and brittle for weaving.

Willow is unfussy about soil and will grow in heavy clay, sandy ground or a damp corner, but it wants sun for at least half the day. The one thing to think about hard is water. Willow roots travel a long way looking for it. Keep the planting line several metres clear of drains, soakaways, septic tank drainage fields, water pipes and building foundations, and allow more room on shrinkable clay. If you are unsure about distances near your house or a shared drain, ask a qualified arborist or your water company before you pick up a spade.

Prepare the rods and the ground

Planting runs from late November to early March, while the rods are dormant and the ground is workable. Avoid frozen or waterlogged soil. Before you start:

• Soak the bundle in a bucket of water for 24 hours if the rods look dry — no longer, as soaked rods rot.
• Trim the bottom of each rod with clean, sharp secateurs, cutting just below a bud.
• Cut the top with a slanted cut so rain runs off rather than sitting on the wound.
• Keep spare rods heeled into a spare bed or stood in shallow water in the shade until needed.

Clear a strip about 60 cm wide along the fence line. Dig over the top 30 cm, remove perennial weed roots completely, and fork in a couple of buckets of well-rotted compost or manure per metre. Willow is hungry and responds well to a decent start.

Build the fence, step by step

1. Mark the line with a taut string. On a long run, set a stake every two metres so the height stays even.
2. Push each rod into the ground 20–30 cm deep, spacing them 20–30 cm apart for a dense screen, wider for a looser one. On stony ground, make a hole first with a crowbar, then firm the soil back around the rod.
3. Weave as you go. Set the first rod at a slight angle, then cross the next one over it in the opposite direction. Keep alternating to build a diamond pattern, bending each rod in a wide arc rather than a tight kink so it does not crack.
4. Add horizontal weavers for a tighter panel. Thread them through the uprights at roughly 40–60 cm intervals, or run one along the top as a finishing rail.
5. Tie loose crossings with jute or hemp twine. The twine rots within a couple of years, but by then the rods will have grown into each other.
6. Trim the tops to a level line, leaving each cut sloping away from its top bud.
7. Water the whole run thoroughly, then mulch both sides, keeping the mulch clear of the rods themselves.

Three variations worth trying

• Diamond lattice: the classic diagonal weave, densest and most decorative.
• Vertical with ties: upright rods held by horizontal rails, quicker to build and easier to repair.
• Arch or tunnel: longer rods bent over a frame to make a living entrance or path cover. Keep the arc gentle or the rods will snap.

The first growing season

Water deeply once a week through the first summer, more often on sandy soil or in a dry spring. A willow fence that dries out in its first few months never catches up properly. Keep the 60 cm strip clear of grass and weeds, because grass competes hard with young roots.

Let the new shoots grow. Lightly pinching the tips in July encourages bushy growth lower down, but resist tidying hard in year one. By autumn you should see roots at the base, fresh leaves along the rods and the first fused joints where stems have pressed together and grown into one another. If a rod fails, replace it with a fresh cutting the following winter rather than leaving a gap.

Annual maintenance: the late-winter cut

Everything hinges on one job. Cut the fence back in February or early March, just before growth restarts:

• For a dense hedge: cut the previous year's growth back to within two or three buds of the framework. It looks brutal, but willow regrows strongly from old wood.
• For a taller screen: leave the strongest rods to extend and weave them in during late summer while they are still pliable, cutting only the side shoots back to the framework.
• Every year: remove dead, damaged and crossing rods, plus any shoots pushing into a path or border.

Keep the cut rods — they are next winter's fence, plant supports, pea sticks or kindling. A single light trim of the face in late June or early July keeps things crisp; harder trimming after midsummer removes the shoots that need to ripen for winter.

Problems to watch for

• Rods that never strike: usually dried out in storage or planted into

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