If you experience breathing sensitivities or allergies to smoke, burning willow in your fireplace won’t be a good idea. Willow will emit more smoke, especially if you fail to dry or cure it well. We recommend mesquite, pecan, or oak since they season quickly. This way, it might burn more safely and efficiently and produce less smoke. Therefore, ensure you dry your willow wood completely. In an outdoor fireplace, burning moist wood gives off embers and sparks that can potentially set the surrounding wood, grass, or bush on fire. If you want effective outcomes, split the willow wood before drying it. Willow might even rot even before it dries completely. This is longer than other popular hardwoods, mostly because willow is lighter and takes more time to dry completely. How Long Will It Take To Season Willow Wood?Įxpect willow wood to take a lot of time to season, in some cases about 2-years. However, remember that wood burns effectively when it’s properly seasoned. While looking for the best wood option to use on your indoor or outdoor fireplace, we recommend the best firewood varieties such as birch, oak, and hard maple. We can rate the wood as poor to fair when employed as firewood.Īs we have seen above, the wood causes more creosote and produces less heat than some common firewood options. Willow wood might not be the best option for use as firewood. When willow wood dies and rots, salicin is released into the soil and absorbed by tree roots. Willow has salicin which has proven to help fight off diseases in other plants like a scab in apples. Fighting Apple Scabįruit growers are among the main beneficiaries of the willow plant. Allowing your livestock to eat willow will therefore allow them to self-medicate. Salicin, an active ingredient found in willow, was then chemically modified to develop aspirin and acetylsalicylic.Īn observation has been made that sick animals or those in pain eat willow thanks to its anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Its bark was used mainly in the Middle East to reduce fever, pain, and inflammation. The use of willow for medicinal purposes dates back to over 4,000 years ago. Smallholders can employ willow wood for several purposes, as we have highlighted below: Medicinal Applications However, don’t allow the willow to stand in water for long periods to prevent roots from getting killed. Using it will help limit flood risks since the roots slow water runoff and stabilize the soil. Willow is known for coping with temporary flooding and waterlogged soils. You need to guard the plant against pests and rabbits. You should plant it through a ground cover material to have zero competition from weeds and for it to retain moisture. The perfect cutting should be about 300 mm long and 10mm thick and needs to be pushed halfway into the soil. The wood is established from cuttings that you can insert into the ground during spring and winter. However, the wood causes more creosote and produces less heat making it less effective for the fireplace.ĭespite such challenges, is wood good for anything? Here, we help you understand everything about willow wood and how it can help you. You can employ it as a hedging plant, for hurdle-making, worming, medicinal purposes, and biomass. It’s known for being a very useful plant option on a smallholding. This includes creating cricket bats and shelterbelts, reducing the bloats in ruminants, and developing agroforestry schemes. Willow wood is among the most popular wood options available for different uses.
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