Jodie Goldring

I collect natural plant material with the seasons. Winter is when I take the trailer out into the waterways of the Hepburn Shire and collect wild willow. It stands in buckets of water until I make a sculptural basket or take it to a basketry workshop for participants to weave with. This year I found a patch of golden willow that was a year or two old, with lovely long straight willow osiers that are perfect for weaving. On Saturday September 10, I am facilitating a “Weaving a Garden Fence” workshop when this willow will be used. We last renovated the wild willow decorative fence at the Creswick Neighbourhood Centre in Sep 2019. It lasted 3 years and you can see the effects of the weather on the willow bird, who has been relegated to the compost! I took the fence down and put the willow in the trailer, as you can see it is still in fairly good condition after 3 years of atmospheric wear and tear.

Gloves, secateurs and loppers are the only tools I need to harvest this problematic natural material. I make sure to collect all small pieces of trimmed willow and remove it from the waterway so I don’t spread willow. As you may be aware, willow is a declared weed in Australia. It spreads fast, congests waterways and out competes native species. If willow is removed there is the cost of replanting native plant species and caring for them until they thrive. Removing willow without this continued investment may lead to erosion and waterways that are in poorer health. Willow removal is a controversial subject in our region (the Central Highlands of Victoria), one that I like to discuss so that there is more understanding of the issue.