Pressure grafting. Detail from the willow structure, the willows are finally tied in place with a piece of rubber tubing, holding it tightly in place, in time the three willow rods will graft together and create a single and strong join. 

Here is a shot of the garden at Whitley park infants and nursery school taken the following morning after the volunteer days. Its a misty dewey autumn morning, with low slanting sunlight (and hence not a great pic) of course for the full effect we will have to wait to spring. Also there are about a dozen fruit trees still to go in, but we have to wait until the plants are fully dormant before we can move them, and with the late warm weather we are having that will be at least another month or two.  

Here is the finished arch, displayed by its proud creators! It took two of the volunteers pretty much all day to do this, with some help from the others. I think the school is planning to use it in their nursery garden. 

there is something about weaving, as a process or artform that connects us to our earlist ancestors, and earliest forms of creativity.. people regularly enjoy getting involved in these sessions... and can create some beautiful artefacts.. 

This a standard issue aluminium garden arch from a garden centre. The idea was to interweave it with willlows - harvested last year and pre-soaked to soften them for the weaving process.  

Pupils get a chance to ask Steve a few questions about what he has been building in the playgound. 

Day two. Ready for more? the team for day 2 arrive. Its another lovely October day.... sunshine after a rainy night, perfect weather for gardening. 

Dave with the Thames Water team 

Tunnel detail 

Taking shape 

Gloves on; rubber gloves help you grip the willow to twist it into shape. 

Weaving in the spacers; these will help keep the shape of the willow structure as it grows.  

now that the mulch pit has been dug the first of the bamboos can be planted 

willow construction.. thanks Leyla for all your energy and enthusiasm! 

The willow dome is evolving... the uprights - the part that will root and grow are spaced apart with a ridge-pole  

the pit is infilled with a mixture of woodchip and straw, and then back filled with soil. The overflow from the rain tank will be directed here, creating a resource to feed the bamboo grove.  

Digging the mulch pit. This pit will act as a soak away for excess rai water collected from the roof of the school hall. The idea is to encourage water to soak down deep in to the soil to create a resevoir to feed the bamboo grove we are planting around it. The collection of golden, black and variagated bamboo's will form a resource for art matierials for the school for generations to come.  

Dave consults the plans.... it can get very hectic working with as many as 15 volunteers, we were very grateful for all the work, but keeping on top of it all certainly kept us very busy; there were 4 work teams, hard-landscaping, joining oak sleepers together for raised beds, 2 planting details as well as the willow weaving crew.  

Planning the dome, its an incredibly precise science, constructing the willow tunnel. Steve has been developing these designs over 15 years and every detail is metriculously planned, in order to get a lasting and regular shape to the structure. 

Steve P. in action; the first pair of willow rods go in the ground. 

the planting crew getting going in the morning. There were literally hundreds of plants and bulbs to be planted, but the volunteers got on with it at such a rate that Dave adn I were hard pressed to keep everyone busy all day - don't worry we managed to! Especailly after Mrs Tanner the head had been out and bought loads of herb plants and daffodil and crocus bulbs to add to the collection. I think its going to look amazing in the spring, even if only half of the stuff comes up. 

Making the living willow structure. Part of the day's activities included making a willow tunnel as a shaded place space for the pupils at Whitley park. Here is Steve Pickup from the Willowbank helped by a volunteer from Thames water makign the first start, the woven plastic fabric will form the base of the tunnel and will mulch out and kill the grass, which in turn will encourage the willow to grow. When the structure is completed it will be edged in and covered over with woodchip 

Fungi growing out of the straw mulch. We prepared these beds back in the summer, sheet mulching out the grass of the playing field with a thick layer of straw and manure. Now we have finally had some rain it is starting to break down nicely. We will be planting directly into this, with plants well established in pots, planted into plugs of compost in the sheet mulch. 

This is the start of a two day work session as part of Whitley arts week at Whitley park infants and nursery school. Myself and Dave are working with volunteers from Thames Water, the company has a long standing relationship with the school as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility policy