Osier. This species of willow springs up in any soil, especially soil which is damp and heavy. [1] Vineyards and orchards are frequently edged with osiers, and osier beds are also planted in order to draw maximum profit from this plant. The slips are planted in the sun and in higher ground than that reserved for willows, because the bases would become languid if they were always wet.

In order to grow osiers, the ground is first dug and the clods broken carefully. The osiers are then planted in drills so that the flow of water can be regulated. Healthy cuttings l½ feet long are selected from vigorous osiers. They are sharpened at the broad end and soaked for four days in water which should be cold but not hard, before being driven one foot into the ground between two furrows, if the field has been ploughed in furrows. The cuttings are planted at intervals of two feet and on lines three feet apart. They must be protected from livestock because they grow in fine, tender shoots of which cattle are very fond.

Osiers are clipped each year when their leaves have been shed. The more mature they are, the more they are worth. When they are cut, they are put into bundles and separated into three categories according to their length and breadth. The first category is composed of the longest, broadest shoots which are used partly for tying binding hoops. Osiers of 3-4 feet form the second category: they are used partly for securing large trellis fences, and in this category the slenderest shoots are the most prized. The third category is made up of small shoots of no more than 2½ feet. Shoots which are shorter than 1½ feet are discarded. When the osiers have been sorted and stripped, they are tied by the handful so that they do not get mixed up and chopped with the cleaver. See Cleaver (basket-maker’s tool).

Wine growers use osiers for tying vines, gardeners for tree training and making bowers, and coopers for securing their binding hoops. Basket-makers use the slenderest osiers for basket work, etc.

Notes

1. The name ‘osier’ refers to a number of species of Salix, including Salix triandra, and Salix viminalis which is the species most used for basket work. Salix purpurea, which has a purple bark, is also used for basketry (Mabey, 1996, p. 141). See D. J. Mabberley, The Plant-book: a Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants (Cambridge, 1997), 663.