Living Willow Classroom for Carmunnock Primary School
I connected with the parent council of Carmunnock Primary School after taking part in W.I.L.D.’s coppicing sessions in Carmunnock Willow Coppice, and after meeting with Debbie at the school and looking at where they proposed to have a willow structure, I drew some ideas.
Some living willow ideas
They chose to install the living willow classroom on the grassy hill in the corner of the playground.
Deeside Willow provided us with exactly what we needed for the design of the living willow classroom. I sourced some 3m poles from Carmunnock coppice, and picked up Deeside delivery in the week previous.
Deeside Willow were able to provide us with 9m of 1m high fedge made up of both brittany green and black maul species to weave the walls. So this circle turned out to be stripey dark red and green, it was all fantastic willow to work with and I can’t wait to see if the planting has done it justice.
This project took us one day to plant. Here’s how we did it:
Measured out the circle.
Hammered in a pinch bar to make planting holes.
And more holes.
Planted the uprights, and the weavers.
Weaved and tied it all together.
Happy with the finished result!
Many thanks to the Carmunnock Primary School team and the Parent Council for making this project happen. I’m looking forward to delivering a couple sessions with the children to help them learn how to care for their willow classroom and weave some mini baskets and bird feeders together over the coming weeks.
I love weaving living willow and would be happy to speak with you about any living willow project you might be considering. I would highly reccommend looking at Deeside willow for supply, and having a chat with Nick and the team there for advice.
https://www.deesidewillow.com/
You can sign up to my emails where I’ll let you know about upcoming events, or contact me to enquire about living willow structures.
