How to Weave a Willow Fence

Furniture & Cabinetmaking

In this step-by-step guide, Peter wood shows us how to construct an attractive and practical willow fence.

Peter Wood shows how to weave a continuous willow fence

Table of Contents

Why weave a willow fence?
What you will need
The Basics
Making the willow fence
- Setting out
- Weaving the willow
How to weave the willow
Different weaves of willow
Details of the weave
Locking the weave
Summary
Further reading

Why weave a willow fence?

These are a great choice for partitioning gardens, providing weather protection for vegetation, or creating a visual barrier to any chosen area. The materials and tools are not expensive, and can be purchased from most nearby garden centres. Making your own willow fence is a wonderful way to spend a sunny afternoon. Drawing on his own experiences teaching in schools, Peter Wood shows us how.

What you will need

Sweet chestnut posts and uprights
Hurdling willow
Sledge hammer
Secateurs
Loppers
Gloves

The Basics

Why I got into willow weaving

One part of my woodworking business that I really enjoy is working in schools with children. Enabling them to have hands-on practical experiences with different aspects of craft is highly gratifying. The challenge is that schools have to justify my expense by involving the largest possible number of children in each activity. As you can imagine, this is rather difficult to run effectively when leading a session on say, pole lathe turning. A great way to avoid this difficulty is to weave with willow (salix spp.), either individually or, as I will show you in this article, by weaving a continuous willow fence. It creates a good looking and permanent structure in the school. Children of all ages enjoy the weaving, and results can be seen in little time. In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to weave a 18m long fence that varies in height – between 1.5m and 1.2m. You can, of course, weave any length and height of fence. For example, if you wish to fashion an attractive screen in a garden.

Types of wood

I’ve chosen sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) uprights for their durability (50–75mm diameter posts and cleft pales) and two varieties of willow – brown, (Salix viminalis) for most of the weaving, and flanders red, (Salix alba vitellina x fragilis) to add some colour into the fence. The willow I’m using is specifically grown for hurdle making. It can be ordered and delivered easily.

Green willow

In winter, when the willow is being cut, you can buy green willow. Freshly cut willow is full of sap, giving it a flexibility ideal for fence making. During the summer the willow will have been dried out to store, so will need soaking for roughly seven days before becoming pliable enough for weaving. The willow is sold by the ‘wad’, or by the kilo, and three ‘wads’ should be more than enough for a 1.8 x 1.8m section.

Making the willow fence

Setting out

1. First, set out your sweet chestnut uprights. The larger posts are set at 1.8m spacing, so you will need to knock the larger posts into the ground at least 300mm. Alternatively, use concrete if more strength is needed. For this fence I’ve evenly spaced seven chestnut pales between the posts. You could add an extra pale in between the posts to achieve more tension in the weave

2. Creating curves along the length of the fence will add strength. In my example the curves also complement the landscape. Avoid weaving perfectly straight fences as they suffer more wind damage over time

Weaving the willow

3. Now to weave in the willow. Use five rods of willow for each upright. You can vary this to achieve different looks of your fence. The diameter of each rod will vary, so try to avoid using five large or small rods in one weave. I’ll now refer to these five rods as rods. To start, weave the rod through one upright only, with the large end (butt end) braced against an upright, leaving most of the length unwoven. Start from the seventh upright from the end post. Each rod should start on the same side of the fence. When this is laid out, pick your first rod and weave the rest of its length above the other willow you added. Repeat this with each subsequent set of rods

**4-5.** Once you reach the end post, wrap the excess willow tightly around the post and carry the weave back along the fence

6. The final two sets of rods will pull up from the base and ‘lock’ the weave in

How to weave the willow

7. Once you’ve completed the first seven rods, start weaving the main fence, adding one set of rods at a time. Just remember to start with the butt (thick) end. Start at the next upright along each time, and weave the whole length of the rod before starting the next bundle

8. To weave the willow, hold the set of rods tightly with one hand, then hold the section to be woven with the other

9. Lift up the willow and weave the rod through the next upright. Then move your hands along to the next upright to start the process again. Before long you’ll get into a rhythm, and no doubt enjoy seeing the progress. Try not to leave too much of the butt end past the upright as it will be trimmed flush when finishing the fence

Different weaves of willow

As illustrated here, halfway through the build I’ve changed willow variety by adding the flanders. This breaks up the monotony and gives some colour. As you are weaving, remember to keep knocking the weave tight; compressing the weave strengthens the fence.

How to Weave a Willow Fence

Why weave a willow fence?

What you will need