Scottish Willow?
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kancell10

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Scottish Willow?
« on: June 06, 2023, 10:30:33 AM »
Hi guys,

I recently read a book about willow growing from Douglas Watling which I found quite interesting.

In principle I took away that salix alba caerulea likes a high water table and moist ground in the lowlands.

I didn't catch too much in terms of climate/temperature but there isn't a great deal of variation in the UK.

It got me wondering whether Scottish Willow could go be grown as an alternative to English Willow as we have plenty of space and moisture ha!

It looks like many willow types are already native here in Scotland, but i'm unsure whether salix alba caerulea has just never been tried as little demand or there is something related to climate or soil conditions that wouldn't work.....

Any thoughts?
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Buzz

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2023, 12:27:58 PM »
If you have some damp clay soil in a relatively sheltered area near a river, especially with climate change, English willow will grow well in my view.
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kancell10

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2023, 04:23:30 PM »
That was exactly my thinking, I'm on the east coast which is not half as wet at the west and is much sunnier (it's all relative) but we've definitely noticed things getting milder so I wondered if that would work. I might need to get someone with a bit more horticulture knowledge than I have though ha ha!
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Buzz

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2023, 06:16:16 PM »
Contact JS Wright's about it.
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kancell10

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2023, 08:16:30 PM »
I've seen a few mentions of talking to J S Wright on the forum, but I wasn't sure exactly their role in this.

From what i've seen on their website, they seem to be merchants who offer a turnkey service from planting, maintenance to production.

However, it seems they are not landowners themselves, more a service based organisation, would that be accurate?

I'm just keen to understand the lie of the land before I contact them and make myself look potentially stupid.
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Andythomo21

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2023, 08:24:51 PM »
JS Wrights or Kippax would probably both be able to help you if you have land.
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Bats_Entertainment

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2023, 09:05:32 PM »
It must already exist? I believe JS Wright find and acquire trees from all over, in addition to their own farmed plantations.

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kancell10

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Re: Scottish Willow?
« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2023, 06:06:58 AM »
You would think so.... but who knows, i'll make it my mission to find out.

There's a bit of work needing done in terms of working out capital costs (typically £10k per acre) for suitable land, planting density, sapling costs, recurring maintenance, extraction and production etc, or substituting that for a turnkey solution from the likes of J S Wright.

I'm keen to see how the economics of it all turns out anyway, if I have a suitable acre purchased for £10k, let's say 500 trees are planted on that over a 5 year period, after 15 years when cash starts rolling in what income could be expected on an annual basis. Will be fun working it all out!
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