Common osier (Salix viminalis) bare root tree saplings

Long slim leaves of common osier (Salix viminalis) against a blue summer sky

Willow - Osier (Salix viminalis)

£0.99

10% off Orders over £1000+VAT

15% off Orders over £2000+VAT

Minimum order value (all plants) is £300+VAT

Free Delivery over £300+VAT excl Highlands and Islands

Please order plants in multiples of 25

Common osier (Salix viminalis) is

- Suitable as a woodland tree, urban tree or waterside shrub or windbreak

- Non-native but has been here since ancient times

- Deciduous

- Good in wet areas

- Safe to plant near livestock (non-toxic)

Grown on our farm in Herefordshire. Buy with confidence - read our customer reviews.

The specifications shown are our normal range but we often have additional options. If there is something that you are looking for, it's often worth contacting us.

Please contact us if you would prefer to order on the phone or have any questions or to discuss a discount for larger quantities.

Our range of bare root Osier plants (Salix viminalis)

Most bare root plants are grown from seed but Osier is grown from cuttings (taken from good quality "mother plants") in winter and planted out into open fields in spring. They are then ready for sale from the following November until the end of the bare root season in April.

Common Osier (Salix viminalis) Summary

Common osier is the willow species commonly coppiced or pollarded in a one to two year cycle for its withies - thin pliable rods for making baskets, hurdles and willow screens, sometimes used as an alternative to hazel. It is also now being used as a biofuel. It is not native but is thought to have been brought to the UK in ancient times. Like other willows it is generally found and planted in wet sites by the side of streams, rivers or ponds and its horizontal growing roots help with soil erosion. Common Osier has an upright growth habit unlike some willows which are more weeping (see Salix alba). Willows are one of the fastest growing plants with potential for hedging use and this speed of growth makes them suitable to use as a windbreak hedge in moist and loamy soils. They will not grow as fast in dry, sandy soils but will still make a good hedge within a few years as long as the hedge line is keep free of weeds.

Soil and Situation

Salix vimilnalis will grow in any soil except chalk and prefers full sun or partial shade. It likes wet sites by ponds or streams. It will grow at the coast and will tolerate salt winds but will not tolerate standing in sea water. Salix viminalis has the capability of being able to absorb heavy metals from soil so it is used to decontaminate polluted soils.

Leaves, flowers and fruit

The leaves are very long and narrow with the edges rolling inwards. They are green on the surface and have white hairs underneath giving a white felted effect. Green female cakins and male yellow catkins (on separate plants) appear before the leaves in late winter and very early spring and after pollination the female catkins produce seeds which are carried on the wind. The catkins provide early pollen and nectar for bees and other insects and the leaves are eaten by moth caterpillars.

Eventual height and growth rate

Salix viminalis is an upright shrub or small tree growing to about 6m in height and it is very fast growing at about 1.5m pa.

Also known as basket willow and osier willow and is from the Salicaceae family.

Free Delivery

For deliveries of orders over £300 + VAT, (which is our minimum order value) we have free delivery to all mainland areas nationwide. If you are in the Scottish Highlands or any of the Islands, please email us or call us and we will quote you a delivery charge which we will subsidise.

All orders are despatched on pallets and will be delivered to the kerbside. We will email you to tell you when your order has been despatched and that email will contain a link so that you can track your delivery.

You can request a specific delivery date when you place your order and we will do our very best to accommodate that date but cannot be held responsible if we do not meet it.

Collections from Ross-on-Wye

You can collect your plants by arrangement with our office team. Please ring us on 01989 552028 to agree a collection date. The postcode for collections is HR9 7TF.

As a trade nursery, we normally despatch stock unbagged (packed horizontally on pallets) but we can offer two bagging options.

Bagging Options

We have two options for despatching plants in bags (you do not need to have them bagged but it is advisable if there is any delay in planting and where you have large quantities, delay in planting some is inevitable).

- Very heavy duty black bags - normally used by farmers, landowners, landscapers etc

- Co-extruded bags which are white on the outside, to reflect sunlight, and black inside, to retain moisture on the roots - normally used by foresters.

In both cases, there is a considerable labour cost to us in putting stock into bags, and then the air in the bags takes up a considerable amount of space on the pallet which means that we get many fewer plants onto a pallet compared with unbagged stock eg for 1+0 seedlings instead of approx. 10,000 plants per pallet of unbagged stock, we'd only get approx. 5,000 plants per pallet if they are bagged. There's also a significant labour cost in putting plants into bags compared with loose packing on a pallet (which is the normal method for nursery to nursery sales). Given that we pay the delivery cost on most orders, supplying stock in bags is a significant extra cost for us for some customers and hence we make a modest charge.

You can specifically request black or white bags on the website after you add plants to your shopping basket. Here is a link to the page Bagging Service for bare root plants for farms and forestry – rjtreesandhedging. Please order the same quantity as the number of plants you are buying - the pricing for bagging is per plant rather than per bag.