These 4 year old trees have been pruned each year to provide cuttings to plant more trees, despite this, they are still 10 feet high, and my location is far from ideal for growing anything. (Click on picture to enlarge)
These are around 2 years old. (Click on picture to enlarge)
If you have enough land or can rent some from a local farmer, you can easily get 1,000-2,000 trees to the acre. They will need rabbit protection for about the first 6 years, and plenty of water for the first 2. Wet ground is better but not vital and, by a happy coincidence, this is often the land that nobody else wants and that helps to keep the price down. This field has been prepared with canes and protectors with irrigation for 1,100 willows. (The irrigation was a bit over the top but it was a challenge that just had to be met.) (Click on picture to enlarge)
A close-up of the irrigators. Two lines of 25mm water-pipe across the field get the water to within 36 feet of each tree, then copper brake pipe cut into short lengths fits into a slightly smaller hole drilled in the water pipes. After that, 4mm PVC electric cable earth sheathing (the cheapest suitable pipe I could find) takes the water along each row, and finally, 2mm electric sheathing takes the water about 18 inches up each tree protector. This is so you can see at a glance if the irrigation system is working at any particular tree. You can use commercial irrigation systems, of course, but expect them to be about 10 times the price in this sort of quantity! I planted my trees 4 feet apart in the rows facing the southern sun, and then 8 feet between each of these rows. (Click on picture to enlarge)
Here are some 3 inch cuttings (on the right) in their pots in the greenhouse in late April, by July they will be 4 feet high and ready to go into the field. By the time the growing season is over, I expect each tree to be around 6 feet high. In the 3rd year if not before, the trunk is pruned to about 5 feet to promote greater growth and multiple whips. Don't worry, its almost impossible to kill a willow. Serious protection from rabbits is needed when they go into the field, I use 75cm tall by 35mm diameter protectors that are made from recycled plastic. No tree protectors are particularly cheap but it's better that having the trees eaten at the base. Don't worry if there are snow drifts in the winter and the rabbits chew the trunk above the protector, the tree will recover quite happily in the spring and, in any case, the whips are pruned in the winter ready to be turned into wood-chips for the next season's fuel. (Click on picture to enlarge)
