Products woven from a wicker can serve their owners for many years, performing not only a practical, but also a decorative function. As an interior item, they are successfully used both in the village and in the metropolis.
Do-it-yourself willow is a science mastered by our ancestors several millennia BC. AT historical documents different countries around the world there are references to various wicker boxes, fences, baskets and much more. The products that can be made by learning how to weave are beautiful and varied. Now weaving from willow is not connected with the everyday needs of a person, rather, it is a fashionable hobby and a way to bring beauty and style to the interior.
General information about weaving
Modern willow baskets are not only accessories for summer cottages, they are full-fledged inhabitants of apartments. They not only carry practical benefits, but are also a highlight, a kind of accent in the design of the apartment.
It is important to note that the collection of vines for weaving does not bring any harm to nature, but, on the contrary, rejuvenates the thickets.
Willow weaving is popular today both in the countryside and in major cities. Another advantage of such a hobby is that there is no need to purchase materials for work. You can easily prepare them yourself. Willow is a very common plant and grows in almost all regions of Russia. If you love walking fresh air, then the trip for the willow vine will be a pleasant and interesting adventure for you. In some large cities, shops that provide goods for various hobbies are beginning to sell vines for weaving. There are not many stores like this, but great option for those who do not know where to find willow thickets in a major city.
Blank for weaving
Not only willow vine is suitable for weaving, but also walnut vine, other flexible species of shrubs and trees. It is better to choose thin long shoots. Take those twigs that do not branch.
For this type of hobby, both the unbarked vine and the peeled vine are suitable. Large items are woven from the unpeeled: fences, large baskets for fruits and vegetables. Vases, trays, linen boxes, bread bins and much more are made from the cleaned vine. An unpeeled vine is called unbarked, a peeled vine is called debarked.
Harvesting of materials for weaving is carried out in autumn or spring. Willow shoots from behind in summer active growth are very brittle, and are not suitable for weaving.
The shoots harvested in the spring are cleaned from the bark immediately, without additional preparation. The shoots harvested in autumn are boiled before cleaning. Harvesting and preparing vines for weaving is a simple matter, but it takes time and effort.
But when willow weaving for beginners step by step will captivate and tighten you, and the finished wicker thing will become the subject of your pride, the time and effort spent will fully pay off with a charge of positive energy that you will receive.
Required Tools
What do we need in the process of work? Willow weaving for beginners, described step by step in the article, requires at least a good supply of patience. Making a basket from a vine is more difficult than weaving it from newspaper tubes. natural material less malleable and may break.
You need some tools to get the job done.
Prepare:
- Awl.
- Secateurs.
- Side cutters.
- A spray bottle filled with water to spray the vines.
Technology
Baskets are traditionally woven starting from the bottom. Then weave the walls, bend. The handles are last.
It is advisable to start from willow for beginners step by step with round-shaped product models. To make it, you will need to learn just a few tricks:
- Technology for the manufacture of a round bottom.
- Rope weaving.
- Layered weaving technique.
- Fold.
Work in the process of weaving must be tamped and crushed so that the basket does not turn out to be too flimsy. The rods should be laid tightly and evenly, without closing each other.
After the technique of making a round basket is mastered, you can move on to more complex openwork products from a vine. Experienced craftsmen they decorate their baskets with braids, weave birch bark, straw and wooden beads into them. The design and shape of such baskets are limited only by the imagination of the master.
Weaving from the vine can be almost anything. Often, landscape designers order wicker figures from a vine to decorate the garden. Decorate the backyard with wattle, and on open veranda it is quite possible to place a rocking chair made of wicker. You can also weave stools, a small table made of willow vines for outdoor gatherings.
This affordable eco-friendly material is used to make even jewelry and new Year gifts. For a child's room, a cradle made of raw rods is suitable. Children like to sleep in such natural, environmentally friendly cradles.
Rectangular wicker baskets, arranged on shelves and racks, are suitable for storing clothes, magazines and newspapers, and all sorts of household trifles.
Any housewife will be able to find a use for wicker products in her home. The ability to weave from a vine will definitely come in handy in your life, at least for arranging your own life, and maybe it will become a source of additional income for you.
Now that you have learned about willow weaving, the tutorial below will teach you how to weave round baskets from willow. With such a basket, it will be possible to go on picnics with friends or to the country house with children.
Weaving willow baskets for beginners (master class)
Let's start making the basket by preparing the willow vine. The vine is best cut in May, before the willow blooms. You can cut the vines in August, when new long shoots grow on the willow.
Preparation of vines from willow branches
We immediately remove the bark from the cut branches and leave our vine for five days in the shade in the open air.
After the vine is prepared and rested, we begin weaving willow baskets. The technology is as follows: we weave the bottom and edges of the product with round whole twigs, the walls - with a vine split into several parts.
How to split a vine
To split the vine into pieces, you will need a special cleaver from hard rock tree. An incision is made at the end of the vine with a knife, a cleaver is inserted into it, and the vine is split into 2, 3 or 4 parts.
The split branches are soaked in water for several hours, and then the brown center is removed. For processing split vines, it is recommended to use a planer.
Before weaving from the vine, it must be moistened. This can be done with a spray gun or by lowering the branches for a few minutes in water.
Having prepared a sufficient amount of vines, we begin weaving willow baskets.
Carefully consider the process of creating a basket in the figure. First, the bottom of the basket is woven, then the ribs are added and the sides are woven along them. At the very end, a pen is made.
If you know the technology for making baskets from paper tubes, then you should know that willow weaving for beginners step by step is almost the same.
We perform the work in this order:
- To make the bottom of the basket, split five rods in the middle with a knife and insert five other rods into the holes. We insert the tips of the first two into the same holes.
- We make a braid of the bottom. The first rod must cover the split twigs from above, and the second to cover those that are threaded into the split twigs from below.
- Do the same for the third and fourth turns.
- We move apart the rods of the cross in the form of a fan and braid with two branches of willow.
- We press the twigs to each other with an awl.
- When the bottom reaches the size we need, we install the ribs of the basket in our willow weaving. For beginners, we will explain this process step by step. For the ribs we use round twigs. We cut their ends obliquely at a distance of about 5 cm. Insert the sharp ends into the bottom braid. We cut off the excess ends of the vine. The edges of the bottom are woven from four round twigs, which are inserted 4 cm near the side edges of the basket. To give a basket required form we make a workpiece, as in Fig. 9. We nail the bottom of the basket to it with the help of small carnations.
- We finish braiding the bottom, cut off the extra twigs.
- We turn to weaving the sides. We cut the ends of the new twigs. We take twigs of medium thickness. We insert new branches along each twig of the base.
- We bend the new rods under the two adjacent ones to the left, down, and then up.
- We also bend the rest of the branches of the vine. The last two branches cannot be bent. We just wrap them around the first ones. Weave the sides of the basket until they reach the height we need.
- We begin to weave a pen. We take thick shoots of the vine, bend them and determine the length of the handle. We cut off the excess vine.
- We sharpen the ends of the vine and insert them into the walls of the basket. We insert five branches next to the handle, and wrap the handle with them. We hide the extra ends of the vine between the walls of the basket.
- We take a thin twig and wrap the edges of the handle with it. We hide the tips of the twig and cut off the excess.
- Weaving a willow basket with your own hands is completed. A simple round willow basket is ready.
Follow the steps shown in the pictures. A little practice and you'll be fine.
Conclusion
Having mastered the technique of weaving round wicker baskets, you can then learn how to weave square and oval baskets and boxes, learn weaving a willow fence for beginners step by step, then move on to making wicker furniture and more complex products. The growth of your skills and craftsmanship depends only on the amount of your free time and the desire to engage in basket weaving. Willow weaving is an interesting and accessible activity for everyone.
This article is published to replace my old guide; to see the old version see here www.bushcraft.ridgeonnet.com/basic_basket_old_version.htm
I'll start by introducing some simple terminology...
When you look at the bottom of the basket, the strong, straight rods that radiate from the center are called "Spokes". After they are bent up to form the walls, I call them "Racks". (These straight lines that create the bar profile are commonly referred to as "Box")
All sections of willow vine that curve between the spokes/uprights are called "Weavers" (the traditional name is "Weft").
My knowledge and experience of basket weaving is based on self-learning. I have not taken any specialized courses, so the instructions below describe my own methods. The specialist may use a technique that differs slightly from my method of making this type of product. Not being an expert, I still want to present my knowledge of basket weaving in this article.
I collect wicker for baskets in the countryside. Not all types of willow are suitable for making baskets; some of them give a material that is too brittle, which cracks when bent too hard during the manufacture of the edges of the basket. When I'm looking for a suitable willow, I just bend the branch 90 degrees or more, and if it cracks, then it means that it is not suitable for the basket ... and I have to look for other options. Often the best option is a willow with bark dyed red, purple and orange colors. I don't know any names of willow species, I just know what is better and what is worse from what I see.
If you do not have the opportunity to collect willow yourself, you can buy ready-made rods. Musgrove's Willow (http://www.musgrovewillows.co.uk/) is a great company where you can get about 700 rods for about 20 including postage.
If the collected rods are damp, they must be dried. Baskets made from freshly cut twigs filled with juice lose their shape and become loose after a while. When the willow is dried, its bark is slightly wrinkled.
Before you start weaving, the rods must first be soaked to make it more flexible. If the willow branches have retained their bark, then soaking may take about 1 week. Many recommend wrapping the rods in a damp cloth and leaving them overnight to "ripen".
You don't need a lot of tools to make a simple basket like the one in the photo. It is enough to have a pocket knife, secateurs and possibly an awl. I used to make baskets using only a knife, but pruning shears are easier to work with! 
Cut 8 rods from the thick shoot. Cut them approximately the length from your elbow to your fingertips. 
In the center of four of these branches, make a split a few centimeters long. 
Insert whole rods into the split so that you get a cross. It's called Slath.
(alternate thick and thin ends to even them out) 
Carefully select the thinnest and longest shoots from the collected branches, this will allow you to make good weaving from the very beginning. Take two rods and insert their thin ends into the slot of the slot, as shown here ... 
In the beginning, we will use a weaving technique called "Twining" - Weaving, twisting. This is a very easy weaving method and is good for holding knitting needles and posts together firmly. The technique consists in holding two knitting rods and twisting them alternately one after the other so that they change places. Each bend always goes in the same direction. After each bend, the next needle (or needles as in this case) is placed between the two knitting bars and then the next bend begins ... thus, they are held in place. Look at the photo... it's really very simple!
Braid around four knitting needles. Make two rows. 
When you have finished braiding two rows around each row of four needles, start braiding each needle separately. Bend each knitting needle outward to braid them one by one. Arrange the spokes evenly so that after completing one row of weaving, we get evenly spaced spokes, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Make a couple more rows of weaving with this method. 
At some point, you will get close to the end of the rods used for knitting, and you will need to build them up. It is better not to add two new rods at the same time. Look at the photo, in this example I am replacing the "B" rod with a new rod, labeled "A". I took rod A, sharpened its end, then put it between the rods of the last two rows, then bent it following the order of weaving the old knit. Now I can cut the old rod B and continue the basket weaving.
When replacing one rod with another, keep the thick end thick and the thin end thin. 
The replacement of the second old rod must be carried out a little further in a circle from the replacement of the first. 
After you have weaved a couple of rows around the knitting needles, we stop using the twisted weaving method and continue to weave in a simple way, which consists in a simple bypass with a rod inside and outside the spokes. You continue to weave in this way until the base expands to the desired diameter. However, in order to properly perform such a simple type of weaving, we need an odd number of knitting needles. We have 16 knitting needles, so we need to add one more. Just place it between the bars of the last pair of rows. Sometimes it is difficult to push in a new needle, so use an awl to widen the hole (if you don't have an awl, you can use a thick metal nail). 
Cut off one of the knitting rods and continue to weave in the usual way from the inside and outside around the knitting needles. 
To add a new knitting rod, place a new one next to the old knitting rod, and continue to weave. 
Continue weaving until you have weaved the bottom desired diameter. In my case, the bottom was made with a diameter of 8 inches. 
The bottom can take a concave shape ... this is good, because. this will give stability to the basket. You can increase the curl by constantly pressing down on the needles as you weave. 
It's time to form the walls of the basket. At this stage, use willow shoots of medium thickness, you will need one for each knitting needle. Each of them sharpen the thick end. 
Now you need to place a new willow shoot in the weave along each needle. If you look closely at the willow shoot, you will notice that the thick end is slightly curved; place each shoot with the concave side facing down. 
Cut off the ends of the old rods at the level of the knitting edge. 
Now take one of your new uprights and bend it down to the left under the two adjacent bars, then turn it up as shown in the first two photos below. Now take the next rod on the left and bend it the same way. Continue in the same way to weave the basket in a circle. It's quite difficult to keep the racks in place, but try to do your best.
At this stage, the posts can simply be bent upwards, but it is better to bend them as described above, because. this makes it possible to make an edge that gives the basket greater stability. 
The last two rods of the racks will not have the following racks in order to be able to bend them; therefore, they will simply need to be twisted around the first racks. When you twist the last two rods, everything will be tightly connected.
Tie the top ends of the uprights together so they don't fall out of place. 
Now you can start weaving the sides of the basket. You can simply start the main weave right after the uprights are bent up, but for the purposes of this guide, we will start with a weaving method called "three rod wale". This type of weave gives a beautiful edge before the main weave begins; and also helps to firmly hold the upturned bars of the uprights in position.
In order to weave "in three rods", place three new rods along three adjacent racks. Take the leftmost rod and bend it to the right in front of two adjacent posts, then behind the third; and then come back forward. Now take the next rod and repeat the action; then the next one, and so on… 
When you finish weaving the second row with three rods, you can untie the upper ends of the rack rods. 
Now we can start weaving with the main method, which forms the supporting sides of the basket.
We will use a type of weaving called "French Randing". This type of weaving is very popular; with it, you can make even walls and weave much faster at a good pace.
First of all, you need to add one rod for each upright around the circumference of the basket. Choose good, long and thin rods of the same length. Add rods one by one so that the direction of the tips of the shoots is directed towards the left hand. Place the butt end behind the bar of the upright, then pass it in front of the next upright on the left, then behind the third upright, then bring it forward. The knitting rod will be held in place by itself. Now add the next rod, put the butt behind the next post on the right; weave over the end of the previous rod in the same way. Continue adding rods until you have braided the entire basket.
Now let's start weaving ... start with any knitting rod, just braid it to the left in the same way that you used before: forward, backward, then forward again. Then take the next knitting rod on the right and do the same ... that's all, just continue to weave around the circumference of the basket. 
When you return in a circle to the place where you started weaving, you will see that two knitting rods, instead of one, ended up behind two rods of racks. You may be puzzled with which knitting rod to start ... Start with the rod that is located below, then everything will return to order. The photo shows that the knitting rod number 1 should be braided before number 2.
Now this row of knitting is completed, and you can continue by taking the knitting rod and braiding it in the same way as before. 
Continue weaving with the French welt method until all the knitting rods are braided to the ends. Cut off individual excess ends of the rods. 
Close the Runt next to the three rods ... 
You can increase the basket to the height you need with the same French welt. One layer of welt will suffice for this type of basket. All we have to do now is bend the bars of the uprights down and weave them into the edge. There are many various options edges, which are made by interlacing the rods of the racks in front and behind in different combination. I think you can design your own...
For this exact model... take one of the upright bars and bend it down to the right. Place them behind the next two racks; ahead of the third and fourth pillars; then behind the fifth pillar; then back forward. Now take the next rack on the right and repeat the weave in the same order. 
The last pair of uprights won't be vertical enough to wrap around them. However, repeat the same weave, pushing the tips in and out of the edges to achieve the same pattern.
At the end, trim the long ends flush with the edges of the basket. 
If you do not need a pen, then the basket is complete! Great job! 
If you need to add a handle, keep reading...
To form the main part of the handle, you will need a thick flexible shoot of a willow or other suitable tree. I used dogwood. Bend it and mark the length of the handle you need, then cut it off. Point the ends and push them down between the knitting rods from opposite sides. 
Now take 4 or 5 long, medium-thick willow shoots, and insert them into the weave near the end of the handle. 
Wrap these shoots around the handle a few times until you reach the other side. Pass the ends under the weave of the edge of the basket. 
Repeat final stage work from the other end to fill the voids in the weave. 
Grasp the ends of the bars and pull them so that the braid fits snugly against the handle. Then stick a thin willow rod into the weave next to it. 
Bend a new piece of willow and start wrapping it around the ends of the braid to secure the ends in place. After a few turns, hide the end as shown in the illustration. 
Trim the ends at the end. 
Cart completed! In the center stands a basket made entirely of blackberry shoots. To see how to prepare blackberry shoots for baskets, check out my old article about baskets.
If you made it to the end, great! 
Extract from old version articles
Blackberry is an excellent material for many reasons: it dries quickly, is very flexible, beautifully colored, strong, has long shoots, and they are almost uniform in thickness throughout their length. I also worked a lot with blackberry shoots without even soaking them before weaving, thus saving a lot of time.
If you are using willow or blackberry, then you need to dry it. You can tell that it has dried out by its reduced weight and shriveled bark. There are several certain types willows that are suitable for weaving and are best harvested in winter, if possible in winter, when the amount of juice is less and there are no leaves on the branches.
You may ask how to remove the thorns from the brambles and make the branches suitable for weaving... the first time I picked brambles I destroyed a pair of good leather gloves. I found the best thing to wear leather gloves, but keep a piece of tarpaulin or sturdy material on top. Holding the branch by the growing end, stick your hand (protected with leather or cloth) down the stem, then cut it off at the base. It will be rough cut to remove all spines and leaves, but the stem will still be rough. Set the blackberry shoots aside to dry completely, then push them through sandpaper clamped in your hands, this will make the branches smooth and make it possible to work with them without problems. The design of the baskets is the same regardless of the material you use. Choose your escapes wisely. Don't pick brambles that are too thick or too short for the job and look for long shoots.
Wicker trees are a wonderful element landscape design. Craftswoman Oksana Sakhnovskaya told Summer Resident TV how to make a living wicker tree from willow for her garden with her own hands.
Weave from willow
For willow weaving you will need:
- decorative pot or planter with earth,
- secateurs,
- clothespins with a good spring,
- willow rods of the same length and diameter.
It is also good to have small thin branches in order to weave a restrictive rope on top of the tree at the end of the work. It is advisable to take a special breeding variety that is grown on plantations - "Basket Willow" or "Giant American". Wild willow can work well for wicker wood too, but you'll have to go around a lot of willow bushes to find even, long twigs.
Summer willow tree you can also weave directly from the ground - for this, the ground is well loosened and watered beforehand. Weave it in a pot in early spring, the willow takes root in it and by the beginning of the planting season - from the first days of May - such a tree is ready for planting. Before weaving, all rods are updated with an oblique cut using a pruner.
Planting and caring for a willow tree
After the weaving of the tree is completed, the top of the head is carefully trimmed with pruners. The willow will now begin to take root. Each kidney will give a sprout 5-6 cm long, they will need to be pulled out of the sinus. This technique is called "blinding the kidney." Nothing else will grow in this place and the trunk will remain smooth.
On the head of the tree, on the contrary, greens are left. When the sprouts reach a length of about 10 cm, they are pinched from above by hand or cut with secateurs. The more often you cut the green crown, the more magnificent and thicker it will be.
Before planting a tree in open ground dig a hole slightly larger than the planter containing the willow. Compost is laid in the pit, the soil is watered abundantly, the rooted tree is pulled out of the pot and buried. After that, the willow must be watered again. Top dressing with fertilizers is not necessary, but it will not be superfluous either.
In the first year of planting, the tree is actively developing root system, during the first 2-3 weeks, the willow needs daily watering. The more often you water a tree, the better it will take root.
A living wicker tree will no longer require additional care. In winter, the willow does without shelter.
The material was prepared by Elena Volozhanina and Ilya Tataurov.
Weaving from a vine is probably the oldest of the crafts. It appeared even before pottery and related, to a greater extent, to the everyday needs of a person. Houses, outbuildings, fences, cradles and toys for children, cart and sleigh bodies, boxes and kitchen utensils were built from tree branches. But ideal material, from which you can weave a basket, were willow rods. They are very flexible and great for this kind of creativity.
History of the craft
Willow weaving in Russia was commonplace. There was no peasant who could weave baskets. There were also masters - basket makers who were professionally engaged in weaving. They wove a wide variety of products: round and oval, rectangular and conical, with complex - simple weaving, large and small. In those days, baskets were simply indispensable. Women in them wore linen to rinse on the river, took food on the road, harvested, went for mushrooms and berries.
AT modern world wicker baskets are also popular. It is difficult to imagine a mushroom picker without a basket. Weeping willow branches contain tannins, thanks to which the mushrooms do not deteriorate longer, and the gaps between the rods help to ventilate the air.
If you have even the slightest idea and a little skill, then easy to learn to weave from willow. For beginners, step-by-step study and independent repetition of all stages of weaving products will bring a lot of positive emotions.
The choice of materials for weaving
The main advantage of basket weaving is accessibility. Supplies. Willow is a common unpretentious tree found in many regions of Russia. Usually craftsmen prepare raw materials on their own. Some grow willow on personal plot. And in single stores you can even buy materials ready for weaving.
Willow twigs growing on sandy and loamy soil. Shoots are cut with a pruner or sharp knife, choosing the longest without branches. Cut at a slight angle, while leaving a few buds so as not to harm the plant.
Shoots with a wide and loose core are not suitable for weaving, it should be small size. Usually young shoots are used.
To check whether the plant is suitable for work, it is necessary to cut the branch and bend it 180 degrees in the butt - if it cracked, it does not fit (it means it will break during weaving), if not, then you can safely proceed to further processing.
Season for harvesting and processing rods
Willow weaving rods are being prepared all year round but preferably in early spring and late autumn. Bark spring shoots removed very easily without additional processing. Rods harvested in another season need to be soaked or evaporated.
For soaking, the shoots are lowered into flowing waters- a river or stream, previously secured with a rope to the shore, so as not to be carried away by the current. It is possible in a trough or a barrel, but in this case a daily change of water is required. Tied bundles with shoots are immersed to the bottom, and a load is placed on top (stone or any other heavy object, except iron) and leave for 1-2 weeks.
To reduce processing times from weeks to hours instead of soaking rods are evaporated in any of two ways:
- The shoots are placed in a tank, rolled around the perimeter, filled with water and put on fire. After boiling, cook for 1-2 hours. Then they are taken out, allowed to cool and proceed to the removal of the bark.
- The vine is no longer flooded cold water, but with boiling water, bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes. Take out, cool and remove the bark.
It is better to clean the rods raw, starting from the butt (root part). During cleaning, so that the material does not dry out, it is better to leave it in water and take it out in small bunches. After the willow is debarked, in order to finish the job, it must be laid out in the sun until it dries completely. For ease of use, the rods are sorted out and folded into bundles of the same size.
Barked rods are divided into two types - harvested in the spring and obtained by digestion. Boiled during operation become bright glossy look, easy to clean, getting better every time. Not boiled, on the contrary, darken over time, acquiring a nondescript look.
Weaving tools
Making a basket from willow is more difficult than from newspaper tubes, but the principle of operation is the same. natural material more brittle and less malleable. It is not so difficult to weave willow for beginners. By repeating all the steps step by step and assembling a set of tools, you can achieve good results. The work will need:
- secateurs;
- sharp knife;
- large scissors;
- dishes for soaking or boiling rods;
- pliers;
- clothespins;
- tweezers;
- Ruler and pencil;
- drill;
- jigsaw;
- stain and water-based varnish;
- brushes.
These tools are useful not only in the manufacture of baskets, but also more massive products - such as a rocking chair, table, flowerpot, hedge, and so on.
Basket making method
To understand how to weave a willow basket for beginners, you first need to delve into and study the lessons, patterns and techniques for making them. After the preparation of tools and materials, when the rods are soaked or evaporated, debarked and dried, the most interesting stage begins - weaving. First of all, weave the bottom, then the sides, and lastly, the handle.
bottom formation
For the correct weaving of the bottom with your own hands, it is necessary to prepare 8 twigs (knitting needles) of medium thickness (Fig. 1). They are divided in half - four are left untouched, and in the other four a gap is made in the middle of each (Fig. 2). Then rods are inserted into the slots in the form of a cross (Fig. 3). Further, two more thin rods are inserted into the same slots and the base is wrapped around in two rows (Fig. 4 and 5). Then the knitting needles are spread apart and wrapped around each individually (Fig. 6).
Each time the rod comes to an end, it must be increased by others. It is not necessary to increase both rods at once, it is better to do it one at a time. To do this, the end of the rod is sharpened and inserted into the hole between the last two rows, it is bent and weaving continues, and the end of the old rod is cut off.
Weaving continues with two more rows (Fig. 7). This is where the twisted weaving method ends and continues with the usual one - bypassing the knitting needle inside and out (Fig. 8). In this case, an odd number of knitting needles is needed; for this, an additional rod must be inserted into the weaving.
Wall manufacturing
Having reached the desired diameter of the bottom, you finish the first stage, the next one comes - the transition to the walls. To do this, you will need willow shoots of medium diameter, which are called racks. Each of them must be pointed at the end and inserted between the knitting needles (Fig. 9). Old rods are cut with a knife at the base. Now they take one rack and wind it up behind the other two, after which they bend it up (Fig. 10). Do the same with all the other racks (Fig. 11). Racks are braided in several rows with a twist, then in the usual way (Fig. 12 and 13).
When the height of the basket has reached the desired size, you need to take one rack and bend it down, placing it behind the other two (Fig. 14). The same must be done with the following racks, removing the ends inward and sticking outward (Fig. 15). Then the protruding ends are cut with scissors at the base (Fig. 16).
Handle weaving
The last step remains - to make a pen. This will require thick shoot of willow which is cut to size. Point the ends and stick into opposite sides products (Fig. 17 and 18). Next, they take 4–5 rods and stick them into the weave at the end of the handle (Fig. 19). They are braided several times and threaded into weaving from the other end. Then they take a few more shoots and do the same (Fig. 20 and 21). Another rod is stuck nearby and braided around the handle at the base, tightening it with a knot (Fig. 22 and 23). The end is cut with a knife (Fig. 24). The basket is ready!
Over time, you can learn to braid pigtails and ropes in two or three rows with more complex weaving, for example, openwork. Sometimes, for the convenience of making wickerwork, wooden templates are made round or square shape which make the job much easier.
Willow is an excellent material for creating hedges. Trees can be used to decorate it. tall varieties that will act as columns. In order for the hedge to look beautiful, you need to choose correct technique weaving.
There are three types of willow. All of them are suitable for sites different area. According to the technique of weaving the hedges are divided:
- for weaving, consisting of one rod (1X1);
- weaving with two guide lines (2X2);
- weaving patterns (3X3).
The most beautiful is considered weaving patterns. This technique is used only if each element consists of three wicker rods. In this case, the cost of the fence increases, so hedge with patterns it is better to equip in areas of a small area.
Which rod to choose
For weaving a hedge, willow twigs with a minimum thickness of 3 mm are suitable. It is also necessary to choose rods of the same length, at least 3.2 m, to make a hedge 1.8 m high.
Growing willow twigs suitable for weaving a hedge will not work on your own. A single plant produces very few 3.2 m rods. Short rods can be used for weaving furniture and baskets, but they will not work for weaving a hedge.
It takes from 30 to 45 rods to weave 1 m of a fence using patterns. In order to grow the material necessary for arranging a hedge, you need to plant a large area with willow.
For weaving a hedge, willow rods of the American variety are suitable. This plant forms strong tall rods that grow up to 4 m.
How to root rods
In order for the openwork hedge to take root and bloom, it is necessary to properly root the rods. To do this, before planting in open ground, they carry out a “revival of the rods”. They are placed in water at room temperature for up to 48 hours.
The process of "revitalization" will start the sap flow inside the rod, which will facilitate the weaving of an openwork hedge. In addition, "revitalization" will speed up the process of formation of the root system.
It is undesirable to keep the rods in the water. If the twig takes root in water, then when transplanted into open ground, there is a high risk of damaging its root system. Rods with broken roots will not take root.
The ideal state of the rods for weaving the fence is the appearance of white dots on the bark. Willow roots will form from them.
The rods are planted in a furrow to a depth of more than half the rod. The minimum depth is 40 cm. In this case, the root system of the hedge will be powerful, which will allow you to water less often, unlike other plants on your site. The willow will receive all the necessary moisture during the rain. The willow is not demanding on the composition of the soil, so the twigs can grow without fertilizers.
After planting the rods in open ground, it is necessary to cover them with three layers of mulch. In this case, you will form a good microclimate for their rooting.
The first layer of mulch is made from cut grass. Layer thickness - 2-3 cm. The second layer of mulch is soil. The thickness of the soil layer is 5 cm. Then the soil is covered with another layer of grass 2-3 cm thick.
hedge care
After the first leaves have appeared on the hedge, it is necessary to prune.
Pruning after the first blooming of leafy buds is required. If the hedge is not trimmed in the first year, then the fence will begin branching.
After the first mowing, the mulch under the hedge should be replaced. As a new mulch, you can use the same “layer cake” as when rooting twigs, and you can also mulch the hedge with sawdust.
