Which Willow Should I Plant? Weaving, Structures & Landscaping

You want willow, but there are dozens of varieties with names like Dicky Meadows, Streamco and Frank. Which one will actually do what you need? The answer depends on one thing: what you plan to do with the rods. A basket needs fine, pliable weavers. A living fence needs thick, fast rods. A winter garden needs color. Here's how we match basketry willow to the job at Harmony Springs Farm, using what we've measured in our own beds in Blountville, Tennessee.

Order or buy basketry willow cuttings: $2.00 per cutting, bundles of 10 →

Key takeaways

• Pick by rod size first. Fine rods for weaving, medium (pencil-thick) rods for heavier weaving and side stakes, thick rods for frames, fences and living structures.

• Beginner rule: At a minimum buy at least one fine, one medium and one thick bundle. You'll have rods for every part of a basket.

• Fastest in our beds: Vitellina, which reaches 8 to 10 feet.

• Cuttings needed: divide your bed's square feet by 2. A 4 x 8 ft bed takes 16 cuttings.

• Payoff: most of our second-year stools gave 10 to 20 rods each (about 14 on average).

Start with the rod: fine, medium or thick

Every basketry willow variety grows rods of a typical thickness. That thickness decides what the rod is good for, so it's the first thing to choose.

• Fine weavers are thin, long and pliable rods for the woven sides of baskets and detailed work.

• Medium rods are about pencil thick. Use them as heavier weavers and side stakes, the ribs that hold a basket's shape.

• Thick rods are tall and sturdy. Use them for base sticks, frames, furniture, fences, arches and other living structures.

Our varieties compared

Most of our varieties are Salix purpurea, the purple osier willow, the classic basket willow. A few are other species, noted on each product page.

Variety	Rod class	What we see in our beds	Best for
Dicky Meadows	Fine	Long, slender, pliable rods	Basket weaving
Dark Dicks	Fine	Dark rods, about as fine as Dicky Meadows	Weaving, dark tones
Packing Twine	Fine	Thin rods	Fine, detailed weaving
Calliantha	Fine	Fine, dark rods	Detailed weaving
Hutchinson's Red	Fine	Orange-red, compact, slender rods	Color in the weave, small gardens
Daphnoides	Fine	Long, slender, dark rods	Weaving, dark tones
Green Dicks	Fine	No deer browsing seen in our beds so far	Weaving, hedges in deer country
Holland	Medium	Thicker than the fine weavers	Heavier weaving, side stakes
Frank	Medium	Red rods, mostly pencil thick	Heavier weaving, color
Vitellina Golden	Thick	8 to 10 ft, fastest from cutting in year one	Frames, fedges, arches, privacy screens, winter color
Streamco	Thick	Very vigorous	Basket frames, living fences, windbreaks
Irette	Thick	Thick, green rods	Stakes, natural green color
Natural Red	Thick	Very thick, with some thinner rods; Salix x fragilis	Stakes, warm red-orange color

Willow for basket weaving

A basket uses all three rod classes. Thick rods make the base sticks, medium rods make the side stakes, and fine rods do the weaving. If weaving is your goal, plant mostly fine weavers, then add a medium and a thick variety so you never have to buy rods for the frame.

For color in the weave, mix in Hutchinson's Red or Frank. For dark tones, try Dark Dicks, Calliantha or Daphnoides.

Willow for living structures: fedges, fences and screens

A fedge (a living willow fence), wattle fence, arch, tunnel, privacy screen or windbreak needs the opposite of a weaver: thick, tall, fast rods. In our beds, Vitellina is the standout. It's the fastest from cutting and reaches 8 to 10 feet. Streamco is also very vigorous and makes sturdy frame rods.

Willow for landscaping

Willow also earns a place in the yard. Vitellina's golden rods brighten a winter garden. Red varieties like Hutchinson's Red and Frank add warm color. Looking for deer-resistant willow? Start with Green Dicks: we haven't seen deer browse it in our beds so far, while our Hutchinson's Red beds took deer damage this year.

Willow loves wet ground, which makes it a natural choice for rain gardens, erosion control and streambank planting. Its roots go looking for water, so plant well away from foundations, septic lines and drains.

The beginner's three: one fine, one medium, one thick

If you can only buy three varieties, buy one of each rod class. That gives you weavers, side stakes and base sticks from your own bed. Here's the trio we'd start with:

• Fine: Dicky Meadows, long and pliable for the weave

• Medium: Holland, for heavier weaving and side stakes

• Thick: Vitellina Golden, for frames and base sticks, and the fastest grower we have

Three bundles of 10 is 30 cuttings for $60, enough for a bed of about 60 square feet.

How many willow cuttings do you need?

We ship dormant, unrooted cuttings, 10-12 inches long. We plant them 1 foot apart in the row, with rows 2 feet apart. That works out to 1 cutting for every 2 square feet, so divide your bed's square footage by 2.

Bed size	Square feet	Cuttings	Bundles of 10	Cost at $20 per bundle	Est. rods by year 2
4 x 8 ft	32	16	2	$40	~220
4 x 25 ft	100	50	5	$100	~700
4 x 50 ft	200	100	10	$200	~1,400
8 x 50 ft	400	200	20	$400	~2,800

Rod estimates use our field data: 240 second-year stools in Beds 2 and 4 averaged about 14 rods each (October 2026 counts). That assumes every cutting takes. Expect fewer where deer, weeds or dry soil set plants back.

A 4-foot-wide bed holds 2 rows, set 1 foot in from each edge. Bundles come in 10s, so round up: the 4 x 8 bed takes 16 cuttings, so order 2 bundles ($40) and plant the 4 spares to fill gaps.

What to expect from your bed

Willow is planted once and coppiced every winter for years: you cut every rod back near the ground while the plant is dormant. Each cutting grows into a stool, the stump that sends up a fresh flush of rods after each cut. On our farm, most of our second-year stools gave 10 to 20 rods each (about 14 on average), so a 100-cutting bed can produce over 1,000 rods by year two.

Curious what happens after planting? See our 2-year photo timeline.

Frequently asked questions

Which willow is best for basket weaving?

Fine weavers like Dicky Meadows and Dark Dicks for the weave, plus a medium rod like Holland for side stakes and a thick rod like Vitellina for base sticks. A basket uses all three.

What is basketry willow?

Basketry willow is any willow grown for long, pliable, unbranched rods that can be woven. Many are varieties of Salix purpurea, the purple osier, including most of ours. They're coppiced every winter so each stool sends up a new crop of straight rods.

Which willow should a beginner plant?

One fine, one medium and one thick variety. Our pick is Dicky Meadows, Holland and Vitellina Golden.

How many willow cuttings do I need?

Divide your bed's square feet by 2. At 1 foot apart in rows 2 feet apart, a 4 x 8 ft bed takes 16 cuttings.

Which willow grows fastest?

In our beds, Vitellina grew fastest from cutting in its first year and reaches 8 to 10 feet.

What willow is best for a living fence or privacy screen?

Thick, vigorous varieties. In our beds that means Vitellina and Streamco.

Is willow deer resistant?

Not completely. Deer damaged our Hutchinson's Red stools this year. We haven't seen any deer browsing on Green Dicks so far.

How much do willow cuttings cost?

$2.00 per cutting, sold in bundles of 10 for $20. Shipping is $15 on orders under $80 and free on orders of $80 or more.

Farmer's Note

For larger willow beds, we might plant cuttings 2 feet apart the first year and then use cuttings from the first year inserted in between at 1 foot apart the second year. This gives stools 1 foot apart in the rows in the second year.

Browse all our willow cuttings →

Or browse every variety on the Willow cuttings for sale. New to growing willow? Start with How to Grow Willow for Weaving Rods, or read why we're selling willow starts.

About the author

Gene Chumley is co-owner along with his wife Jennifer Harmony Springs Farm in Blountville, Tennessee. He holds a BSME and an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, holds 21 US and international patents, and is a UT Certified Master Farm Manager. A retired director of operations, he runs the farm's willow and superhot pepper beds the way he ran a plant: measure everything, and publish the data.