Salix capraea

[Mercadante]

We have an old willow at the end of the garden which I believe is a female goat willow, Salix capraea (catkins now falling and young leaves appearing). It has about eight equal trunks. Does this mean it was coppiced? If so, would it be possible to tell from looking at it roughly when it was last coppiced? I could post a photo, but won't if there's no point.

[Adam Cheeseman]

It has quite possibly been coppiced in as much that it may well have been cut down for whatever reason the past. Depending on the location it may also have been browsed as a young sapling by a herbivore. What is the diameter of one of the trunks at about 1.5m up the trunk?

Cheers, Adam

[Mercadante]

They all have a diameter of about 15-16 cm at that point, circumference about 48 cm.

[Cotham Marble]

Originally Posted by Mercadante

They all have a diameter of about 15-16 cm at that point, circumference about 48 cm.

Most likely to be a 'grown out' element of a one time laid hedge. There's not a lot of evidence that Salix capraea has ever had much economic importance, which makes it less likely that it was a purposeful coppice plant.

If you post a picture I'm sure it will bring lots of comments

CM

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by Mercadante

They all have a diameter of about 15-16 cm at that point, circumference about 48 cm.

I would guess at around 10 years old but would need to take into account water supply, soil conditions, and competition for growing space.

Cheers,

Adam

[Mercadante]

Oh, thanks - quite young, then. It's near the edge of the garden, towards the road, so it could have been a hedge, although it's not really in line with anything else. We have a lot of rain, but the soil is extremely shallow, sandy, and acid; it is next to an old china clay tip. The plants around (apart from other willows) are sycamore, hawthorn, gorse, bracken, bramble, and lots of moss, but it has quite a bit of space to itself.

Well, I might just post a pic

[Cotham Marble]

[quote=Mercadante;259491] Well, I might just post a pic QUOTE]

Great looking plant. Doesn't look like it was part of hedge, I wonder if what has happened is that an amount of soil has been dumped over it at some point in the past and this has caused the plant to grow out in the way that it has.

Although very gnarly it can't be very old, but still a great thing to have at the 'bottom of the garden'.

CM

[Mercadante]

Ah, that's a good idea, especially as this area has been used as a tip by the locals and road workers. For example, when I took this photo I found three black bin liners buried just to the left of the picture, under the leaves - all sorts of things turn up at this time of year. Thanks!