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Garden Projects 2009 Part 4 - How to Build A Willow Te-Pi

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Well It’s all go in my garden at the moment, what with extentions to the beds and more digging ect..ect Well this weekend we had a break from the boring digging and weeding, and finally got around to an idea I have been toying with for some time…..

This is the offending area…..MMmm not the most attractive area of the garden…

Needs a bit of a re-vamp, and now that I have removed Brookes play house to make room for a fairy garden, she could do with a little den to play in..

….Let me introduce Team Te-Pi….


Myself, HRH princess Brooke, and my gardening buddy known on GOY as Pollynpercy…nothing like a bit of girl power..

and here’s the kit..bought from an on line company that suply everything you need, including detailed instructions and a DVD.

All present and correct….first job, clearing and flattening the area….


Brooke very much enjoyed this bit…


Removal of a few low branches on the tree behind…

Now all flat and clear, time to lay out weed supresser

All marked out with copper pipe, string and white crayon, we now have a nice big circle, then measure out where the door is to go, and then on to making holes for the willow upright rods 30cm apart and 30cm deep – all the way around, with the copper pipe and a nice big hammer…oohhh I like this bit.

Meanwhile Brooke is giving the worms a ride around the garden on her bike….


Poor worms….so we decide to enlist her help as chief willow rod selector….


mmmm…this looks like a good-un mummy…

All the upright’s are now in place, so a bit of a bashing around the soil at the base of each rod – carefully ofcourse so as not to hit the stem, so they are they are nice and firm.

Starting to loose the light, but really need to get the weavers in so a bit of a team work required….me making the holes, Brooke bringing over the rods, and Pollynpercy tying them all together…

Unfortunately by the time we got them all in not enough light to take a pic….however Brooke and I were back out there this morning bright and early finishing off….

I won’t even bother trying to explain how you do this bit…you really do need the DVD for it…and the step by step instuctions…but I must say, it looks and sounds difficult, but once you have the hang of it, it is really quite good fun…

The hardest bit of all was the top and door….gladly as Pollynpercy not here this morning no photos of me doing this bit, but i should imagine it was a sight for sore eyes at 8am lol

There…all done, what do you think? not bad aye, not as hard as I thought it was going to be when i first watched the DVD and read the instuctions, one of thoughs things that is easier to do than explain. We started around 4pm yesterday afternoon, come in at about 5,45pm and then Me and Brooke out there again for around an hour and a half this morning, so all in all a very enjoyable and productive weekend project, one which I would definately recomend to anyone considering willow structures. Obviously needs a few finishing touches, such as the weed supresser mat being cut to size and some bark on the floor inside, may just take a trip to B & Q for the bark later today, its a nice sunny day, Brooke may well want to play out there later…

I have to say both Brooke and I are very happy with this little project and a big thanks to Pollynpercy for all your help xx

…..And just a little update….the finishing touches…

..Watch out she just might squirt you! lol

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Comments

 

This is going to be a living te-pi isn't it? It'll look fantastic once all the willow starts to shoot! Wonderful little hideaway for Brooke, who's just adorable!

2 Mar, 2009

 

well done all of you. job well done.

honeysuckle grows well with my willow structures. and i also have a thornless blackberry rambling through one.

2 Mar, 2009

 

Well done, all three of you...a great result and it didn't really take that long, did it? A DVD is such a good idea, much better than an instruction booklet! :-)

BTW, where's the arch gone???

2 Mar, 2009

 

Nice work, that looked like good fun, it's a lovley idea to have a living wig-wam for Brooke to play in. She is gorgeous Btw;

2 Mar, 2009

 

Yes well done all three of you.

2 Mar, 2009

 

Fantastic Den for Brooke and a great job done, A Real Life Living Den, Ive seen them being made on TV and I think there Great...

2 Mar, 2009

 

great idea..........youve certainly had some fun putting it together..........

2 Mar, 2009

 

hello what a great idea!my little boy would love one!could you tell me where i may but a kit on line?i dont think mine will turn out as good as yours though!

2 Mar, 2009

 

Looking good.
A dynamic trio :o)

2 Mar, 2009

 

Well done you three.
It wont take long for it to green up. Mine is coming into its 3rd year now and fresh new green shoots are starting to appear once again.
After the first year instead of cutting the excess off I re wove it back into the structure making it really solid to touch. Last year however I cut off the excess and made an oblisk, some plant supports and a willow fedge to hide my compost bins.

You will now have your own endless supply of willow for weaving and building. Oh and sitting in on summer days to watch the world go by.

If you search willow dome you should find a pick of mine in full growth, they get tall.

2 Mar, 2009

 

I Love It Ang & Im Sure little Brooke Does 2 :) Great Work all 3 of u :) xxx

2 Mar, 2009

 

Thats great Angie you have done a good job there and Brooke is going to love playing in and around it,also as it greens out and grows over time it will disguise the area behind it, which will please you. Well doneTeam Te-Pi

2 Mar, 2009

 

Hi all, sorry for the delay in responsing, i have been out doing the finishing touches, it has been tremedous fun to make, and Brooke loves her new den, the problem is going to be getting her in. and yes it is a living structure so won't need any tipe of covering, there are a few buds already on the tips of the willow, so looking forward to seeing it in leaf. and yes Trees i had thought i would weave in the new stems, is there any reason that you did not do this the first year? or am i safe to do it this year? and Spritz the arch is currently laying on the grass i had to take it out as it would have been in the way, but it will be going back in place, but i need to remove the cement at the base of where it will be going before i can get it back into the ground, as the te-pi has pushed it accross by an inch or two which has ment the right hand legs are on the cement - not very stable. i am going to be putting the trellis the other side too, so i may wait and do it all at once and cement one side in with the fence posts.

and there are a couple of quick update photos coming in a mo. i have opted for a lovely evergreen clematis in the back corner behind the te-pi, and some ferns, i will proberly be adding another two, winter flowering/evergreen clematis, one each side, and even some morning glory for this year until it gets going so we shall see.

3 Mar, 2009

 

Its Looking Fab Ang No wonder ur having Probs getting Brooke Indoors :)X

3 Mar, 2009

 

Good for you, Brooke! New toys are meant to be played with, tell Mum. XX

3 Mar, 2009

 

Very good will look forward to seeing your progress report...when is your first pow wow ?and can we all come please.... I will bring my pipe of peace.

3 Mar, 2009

 

sorry Lindaloganb, i missed that comment, i think there are several on line companies but the one i used - and yes would definately recommend is the willow bank company. just tap that into google and it should come up.

and yes she has definately played with it all right. a few weeks ago i saw this really nice little hard wood garden bench - Brooke size - in the sale in my favorite garden shop in town, only £19 really well made, did'nt buy it at the time as skint (for a change lol) well we had to go to the post office this afternoon, and had some cash so thought i would pop in there on the off chance it was still there, and what do you know..there it was, last one, perfect size perfect colour and Brooke says very compfy, so she now has her own little seat in there too, will take some pic's tomorrow, and i will let you know when we have our first pow wow DD2 - although we could have rather a lot of 3 and 4 year olds present, so it would be a case of come at your own risk really lol

3 Mar, 2009

 

Hi Angie and Brooke, must say I'm very impressed with the finished result and it was great fun to help you construct this, can't wait till the leaves come and it's all green. is Brooke still quoting her "team work" song, she is so gorgeous and loves her garden nearly as much as her mum! See you both very soon, love and big hugs Polly! as in Polly and Percy! xxxx

3 Mar, 2009

 

Yes she is still singing it, and referring to us all as team te-pi - she has a lovely little bench to sit on in there now, you'll have to come and see very soon - so when is round 2 over in your garden then? lol thanks so much hon xxxxx

3 Mar, 2009

 

Sorry I meant throughout the first year I wove the new shoots in.

I have a clematis growing up mine, it's only little as I planted it last year. Also there is a wisteria growing up the other side.

I like the idea of ferns around the base I might have to move one of mine.

Keep the pics comming.

3 Mar, 2009

 

It looks really fantastic ! the brick edge is a nice neat touch

3 Mar, 2009

 

thank you, and yes Trees i think the ferns around the base are really finishing it off nicely, once they get going might give a bit of a jugle effct. and thanks Linda, the bricks used to be around her little flower garden that we moved to make the fairy garden (still a work in progress) they fit in quite nicely don't they.

4 Mar, 2009

 

I love this idea..what a great Fariy Garden piece..I have learned so much from this blog Angie..thank you so much for showing us this...! I will be keeping this in mind for sure!..I love Fairy gardens! What fun....!

4 Mar, 2009

 

A lovely little area, particularly for Brooke to play in. Nice istructional blog but I think I'll stick to plants and seeds etc, it looks a bit complicated to me. I never was much of a DIYer as my wife will confirm. I hope you and Brooke enjoyit!

5 Mar, 2009

 

I like it. A lot. Trouble is grandson no3 arrived just after Christmas so I would have to make a gert bigun or buy three.

14 Mar, 2009

 

Catfinch - glad you enjoyed the read, it was so much fun to make, and Paul, it really is not as hard as you think - honest, the instructions are spot on and we had a DVD with a demonstration, it only took a couple of hours from scratch, and Brooke was able to get involved too. and Hameryllis, you can make them as big as you like, this one would easy hold 3 kids quite happy, but this is the smallest size kit, - but as big as it will go if that makes sense, the next one up would make one from 1.5m accross upto 2.5m accross even more if you make the door bigger. you can manipulate it to sute the space you have and the size you want, there is no hard and fast.

14 Mar, 2009

 

thanks for this! I'd found some pics from another GoYer on building a living willow arch, but I found them out of sequence, and no how-to. Took me about an hour's searching GoY to find this blog - now I'm going to hang on to it and lrean it off by heart!

30 Mar, 2014

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