Osier (basket willow)
Salix viminalis
The basket-maker's willow: cut to a stool each winter, it sends up long straight rods for hurdles, baskets and living fences, and its catkins feed the first bees.
Hardiness: zones 4 to 8
Light: full sun
Size: about 15 ft tall, 6 ft wide
Harvest: November to March
From: Europe and western Asia
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.
Good for: pollinators, wildlife, screens and hedges, traditional use.
Native to: Temperate Europe, Northern Europe & the taiga. Hardy in zones 4 to 8.
The story
Osier has been grown in wet ground across Europe since before the Romans for its long, bendy rods, called withies. On the Somerset Levels whole fields of it, withy beds, are still cut every winter for baskets, hurdles and artists' charcoal. Cutting does the plant no harm: a coppiced stool can go on producing for thirty years or more.
Planting
Full sun in moist or wet soil; heavy clay and ditch sides suit it. Push 25 cm cuttings of one-year rod two-thirds into the ground between November and March, about 60 cm apart for a rod bed. Nearly every one will root.
Growing
Keep weeds down for the first two summers. Each winter, after leaf fall, cut every rod back to the stool, a hand's width above the ground. For a living fence, push long rods in at a slant in winter and weave them into a diamond pattern; tie the crossings and they graft together.
Harvest and use
Harvest rods from November to March. Use them green within a few weeks for hurdles and plant supports, or dry them and soak before weaving baskets. One-year rods are for baskets; two- and three-year rods make stakes and hurdle uprights.
What to watch for
Roots seek water: keep it at least 10 m from drains, pipes and buildings. In Australia, New Zealand and parts of North America willows are invasive along rivers; grow it only where it is native, or choose a local willow.
Safety
Medicinal uses here are shared as history, not advice. Kitchen amounts are fine for most people, but teas, tinctures and supplements can interact with medicines and aren't safe for everyone, especially in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, for children, or with liver or kidney problems. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking any plant as medicine.
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General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home