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Willow tree down - recycle ideas for the bunnies please :)

Hi there wonderful people,

Sadly the wind brought one of our willow trees down last night -snapped in two! Very old tree too, but hopefully the remaining trunk will resprount as it wasn’t diseased. However, I now have the top of the tree and all last years whips/branches without leaves on the lawn (was lopped a year or so ago) and thought I’d ask everyone for recycling/salvage ideas for the bunnies?

I will attempt to inset a pic...
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Thank you :D
 
Wow ! Maybe you could make a living willow hut or some cool bunny chew toys. There are some great ideas on Pinterest. I've no idea how to do these things myself - I nearly booked on a local willow weaving course last year but it was a bit too pricey
 
Oooo living willow hut! Brilliant idea. Am googling how to make willow balls as we speak, but a living willow type construction is a wonderful idea, thank you


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Personally I would just split it up and give it to the rabbits now and again. If you have a large woody trunk, I would let them have that now if it's small enough, otherwise I would saw it in two. Large branches I would also let them have now. I would split the whips up into manageable sized branches and stick them in a bucket of water to keep them fresh and let the rabbits have a few now and again. This is my opinion based on the fact that I know my rabbits have never wanted to play with anything, but they do love to nibble bark and eat Willow whips.

We have had this sort of thing happen before and of course the rabbits have been in their seventh heaven :D

I fell sure that your remaining trunk will sprout again once the weather gets warmer.
 
If you have any big pieces of trunk you could cut them into chunks for them to jump on :thumb:
 
How long do you think I could keep the branches fresh in water for? There are a LOT of branches, so wondering what the best way to store them would be, until I can do something with them.


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If you don't mind it drying out, you can hang them up in unused garage/shed and just use as and when needed.

Hut and periscope platforms sound good along with some chew toys.

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How long do you think I could keep the branches fresh in water for? There are a LOT of branches, so wondering what the best way to store them would be, until I can do something with them.


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I've found that twigs will stay fresh in a bucket of water outside for about 3-4 weeks.
 
The tree will re-sprout in spring - but the trunk should be cut back properly to leave a nice straight cut across it into the solid wood, and no ragged edges to encourage infection / rot to set in. Willows are pretty resilient to most things.
 
Thanks everyone! Loving these ideas! omi, that’ll give me a little time to work out what sort of chew toys to make with the excess branches if I dry them after that - if the rescue doesn’t want them. Definitely want to try the idea of a living log, it sounds too wonderful!!!! Need to get all of this ivy off first, which is daunting, as I know it’s bad for bunnies - don’t want to leave any bits on the bark.

Thanks shimmer, I didn’t know that! Will make sure it’s cut back properly, hopefully it will come back.


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Thanks everyone! Loving these ideas! omi, that’ll give me a little time to work out what sort of chew toys to make with the excess branches if I dry them after that - if the rescue doesn’t want them. Definitely want to try the idea of a living log, it sounds too wonderful!!!! Need to get all of this ivy off first, which is daunting, as I know it’s bad for bunnies - don’t want to leave any bits on the bark.

Thanks shimmer, I didn’t know that! Will make sure it’s cut back properly, hopefully it will come back.


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Once you've got it all sorted - advertise it here on RU and we will buy some of your sticks :wave:
 
How long do you think I could keep the branches fresh in water for? There are a LOT of branches, so wondering what the best way to store them would be, until I can do something with them.

When my willow tree was struck by lightning I put a load of whips into the little stream along the side of our house and they just stayed there - they rooted and the following year started to grow and produced nice fresh branches and leaves. So potentially, if the water is changed regularly, they could stay fresh for as long as you want. I'd definitely try and re-plant some of them, if you can put them in wet soil you could make a living feature out of them which you could keep small and manageable from a small start.
 
My sister planted twigs into the ground as Santa suggested and made a living willow fence. She criss crossed them upwards. They did grow quite tall but it was really lovely.
 
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I will definitely post them up on here when I’ve lopped them all, and people can donate to the rabbit rescue I volunteer at, if they would like! I think a willow trellis might be a fantastic use of the scrap of grass the other side of the fence by my bunnys aviary, too. Oh dear, how much work am I getting myself into! [emoji16] I’ve also just remembers I have some herb troughs that I could potentially sit the whips in and keep them fresh, propped up against the fence on this side. I recently had a load of apple branches there and these stayed put in the wind. Right, I will go and chop off what I can this morning and see what I’m letting myself in for...
 
I will definitely post them up on here when I’ve lopped them all, and people can donate to the rabbit rescue I volunteer at, if they would like! I think a willow trellis might be a fantastic use of the scrap of grass the other side of the fence by my bunnys aviary, too. Oh dear, how much work am I getting myself into! [emoji16] I’ve also just remembers I have some herb troughs that I could potentially sit the whips in and keep them fresh, propped up against the fence on this side. I recently had a load of apple branches there and these stayed put in the wind. Right, I will go and chop off what I can this morning and see what I’m letting myself in for...


Now look what you've made me do ... I've just ordered some whips off Ebay :lol:
 
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