Willow is a great tree to have where you live. It provides infinite amounts of material that can be used for construction, biomass, or even weaving baskets. The problem is that if left alone, it is very aggressive in it's expansion and seeks to take over as much space as possible, cutting off access to sunlight for other plants.
I find myself in a bit of a dilemma as I want more sunlight to grow crops, but at the same time I don't want to be disrespectful to trees that were here even before I was born. The best thing would be to cut off the top part as the tree can easily heal from that, but hey are too high!
I don't have the money to buy a big staircase and making one myself would take away time that I need to use in other projects right now. While thinking about this, a vision came to mind. Yes, it's a bit Ghibli or Disney inspired but it just might work. I imagined giving the green branches a shape which when they become more solid might be used as platforms to go the higher parts of the trees and cut off the top branches to allow more sunlight to come through.
I had recently seen a bushcraft video where a guy made a quick shelter from willow and he would join two branches by twisting them over one another. This seemed like a great way to start shaping the trees in a way that could help me get to new heights in time.
First you twist to one side and then to the other. I'm guessing it won't be so clear by just looking at pictures so here goes a GIF:
https://media2.giphy.com/media/ODHmnP4UbeGABtzkqr/200w.webp
With this technique you can make arches that will later serve as stepping platforms and also to hold on to. If this works I could even have a sort of network among the trees to move around the forest from above! Wouldn't that be awesome?
I imagine kids would have a blast as well exploring the forest from this perspective. I don't know how long it would take for the branches to be solid enough to be stepped on though.
Once an arch is in place, I spin the adjacent branches around it to make it sturdier.
I am aware that entire living bridges were made in southern India with roots from the rubber fig tree, giving them direction with structures and sometimes without them as well, using only the roots and the patience to guide them.
Of course, as with any living structure, this would need pruning and maintenance. It is possible that the branches will end up combining into one through a process called "inosculation", which is similar to what happens in grafting, which would make the structures very strong.
I've also joined branches from the ground with others hanging down from the tree to see if they will join up and create ramps that allow ready access to the heights of the trees.
I've done dozens of arches already in different places. In fact, every time I find a few green branches that I can easily reach I make one. Hopefully some results will be visible before next spring as I intend to go traveling for a while then, to experience life outside the forest once again. Though, who knows, maybe I'll be having so much fun atop the trees I'll forget all about this idea 🤭
Anyways, thanks for your time and attention, all the best to you 🌿
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