Willows

Willows For Sale Each Spring

Shrub Willow CUTTINGS AVAILABLE

Cuttings are $2 each, in bundles of 25.
We use shrub willows to create shade for our sheep, turkeys, hens, and meat chickens. The sheep also love to forage on the willows! You can also use shrub willow for basketry and living fences.
Varieties available in 2026 are Polish Purple, Lambertiana, and Flanders Red. We'll coppice different varieties next year.
Cuttings are about 14" long, and range in diameter from a pencil to your thumb.

Tips for Willow Success

You do not need to root these out or dig holes. Simply push into the ground. Each cutting has a pointy end - that's what goes into the ground. You want ~3/4 of the cutting in the ground (to root) and you want to leave about 3-4" above ground (to become your shoots). You need way more roots than shoots at the start, so the small plant doesn't dry out. If you can't get them far enough in (because you hit rock, for instance), either consider a different planting area OR you could try trimming off the top of the cutting, leaving 4" or so above ground.
Willow cuttings need to be mulched (grass/pasture will outcompete them).
Willow cuttings are thirsty. If it's a dry year, watering in year 1 will help them get established.
We have had some good luck with soaking willows before planting them. If you can't plant the willows when they arrive, stick them keep them in your fridge (in the veggie drawer) -- we put them inside two plastic bags (one as a "lid") with a damp paper towel. Plant within one week-ish. The night before you plant, pull them out of the fridge and soak them in a bucket, with say 8" of water or totally submerged. They're pretty tough and forgiving!
We plant 1' in row spacing, in North/South lines. Farmers who have bought willow from us for deer fence do 8" spacing. If you're growing for basketry, you might have very different spacing. We have sold to basket makers from this spacing at times, though it doesn't yield as much straight material as a grid would. Selling to basket makers is not our main business.
On our very poor soils, we give willows at least two years to grow before coppicing. Once they're established, you can coppice (to 1-3") every 3 years, or maybe more depending on your soils and goals!

More About Willows On Our Farm

We started growing willows seven years ago, when Nate brought home 34 varieties as part of a work trade for an agroforestry farm in Illinois. We had seen folks growing willow for forage for sheep in Vermont (where we worked on farms for three years), and so we eagerly put 1,700 cuttings in the ground. Every year since, we add more. We love what willows give us: shade, shelter, forage, and beauty. Plus we sell some cuttings here and there to our fellow farmers and sometimes basketry materials. It's a fun piece of our puzzle, but maybe only 1% of what we do. We don't want to oversell our expertise or quality, but we do love seeing farmer friends adding willow to their worlds.