Putting up the willow arch

It's been a busy time in the WESC garden with projects galore being ticked off the list.

In April Dylan and his mom Meg started putting the willow arch together.  

Three weeks before starting Dylan lifted the turf, single dug the top soil and added organic matter and left it for two weeks to improve the condition of the soil to give the willow rods the best start.  

The soil was covered with landscape fabric to supress the weeds and the willow was then planted through the fabric.

It took a good while to weave the willow into an arch, we chose an arch to reflect the shape of the polytunnels

The arch is halfway down the path and as the willow leafs up it will give different sensory experiences to our students of light, sound and touch and also a sensory cue to help orientate themselves when entering the gardening area. 

Dylan and Meg chose to keep the top third of the structure open so when the willow leafs up it's lighter at the top and denser at the bottom.

What a fantastic addition to the WESC garden and a big thank you to Meg for all her help!

This is part of the wildlife science project, the students have been involved with making and monitoring it's growth - more to follow.