Willow panels are very useful in a number of ways. They are relatively easy to construct and they use up willow that is too big to be used in making an ordinary basket. Furthermore the panel can be a simple and attractive way of creating a garden break. Occasionally when making a larger basket, for logs as an example, the heavy willow can be useful as uprights.

My method I use is slightly complicated as I have created a system whereby I employ a frame with holes, the holes are large enough to allow the thick end of the willow through, but this ensures that the panel will be parallel in its width. I place the frame on the ground and make holes in the ground to line up with the holes in the frame. These holes created in the ground need to be big enough and deep enough to accept the thick end of the willow and allow them to go about 6 to 8 inches deep. I use very long, straight thick willow for the uprights, as straight as I can get. These can be difficult as willow doesn’t always grow very straight. After I have pushed the thick ends into the ground through the holes in the frame, I slide the frame up the willow until it is about 5ft off the ground and I support the ends of the frame on trestles at either end of the willow that is to be used for the panel, and back around 4 ft from what will be the end of it. If I am making a 6ft panel the trestles will be about 14ft apart to give me working distance at the ends.

I then weave thinner willow in and out along the uprights twisting and turning it at each end and then working it back. The working willow needs to be thinner as it needs to weave around the uprights, and not too thick as to start to push the uprights out of line. When it runs out I add in another and I keep going weaving in and out back and forth until I reach the height I want. The willow can be all the same colour or be bands of a different colour to give a nice effect. When I have reached the height I want, I remove the frame and I crimp and fold the tops of the uprights and weave them to give a finished top. This will in fact be the bottom of the panel as when I’ve finished I pull it out of the ground, which can be a struggle, turn it right way up and then trim the ends that had been in the ground to a regular length and it is ready to be put in its place.

Before I pull it out of the ground I will trim off all the untidy bits along the face of the panel and at the ends. A number of the ends that need trimming will be thick heavy willow which is very difficult to turn and weave back so I just trim them flush with the panel.

The weaving willow in the panel can be a single willow rod being woven or a pair of rods or even a small handful of thin rods that weave back and forth. Whatever number is used, it gives a varying effects on the finished panel.