permaculture

["Michael Miller & Ute Bohnsack" <burrenag@iol.ie>]

May I add to Franks list:
Willow (Salix spec.)!
I'm experimenting with closely spaced and/or interwoven willow cuttings.
Live willow fences have a long history in Europe.
A short stretch of interwoven cuttings of Salix alba I planted in winter
(some planted upright every 10" or so and the others stuck in the ground at
45 degrees and woven into the upright ones) has proved a great barrier.
Mind you, you need a hell of a lot of cuttings.
My other venture, a dogproof 'Duck ringfort' made out of 6 foot cuttings
planted at 2" spacings in a big circle has only partly got off the ground
as I didn't have enough time when it was time to get the cuttings. Will
finish next winter and then plant (if I can get it) the blackberry
'Himalaya Giant' around it which has been described as follows: "Use this
variety if you have a large space to cover and you need an impenetrable
barrier or windbreak." Another plant which would seem to quickly create a
+/- impenetrable barrier is the rose Rosa filipes 'Kiftsgate'

As a windbreak for our polytunnel we pruned a whitethorn (Crataegus) hedge,
hammered the longer, thicker branches into the ground at roughly 2m by 0.5m
and stuffed the rest of the prunings in between these 'poles' to a eight of
about 1.5m. Planted a mix of different willow species on the western side
and some trees/shrubs (Syringa, Eleagnus, Black currant, Rosa rugosa,
Cornus sanguinea) on the sheltered eastern side. We hope the 'deadwood
fence' will last until the live fence (i.e. hedge) has grown sufficiently
dense.

Check out :
http://larchi-gw.hx.uni-paderborn.de/~daeuble/kirsch/kirsch.html for
'living constructions' (German, good pics)
http://www.hurdle.co.uk/conser.htm for erosion control work carried out by
the company English Hurdle with live willow.

Hedgelaying also creates excellent stockproof living fences. See for
example:
http://www.guild.bham.ac.uk/bucv/lickey_hills_feb_97.html

Greetings from Ireland,

Ute