Learn how to make a willow obelisk and discover willow’s natural healing properties, the climate-friendly habitat it can provide, and the wisdom offered by the beautiful, calming, and versatile willow tree.
One quintessential, easily recognizable tree is the weeping willow (Salix babylonica), whose picturesque canopy and slender, dangling branches swaying in the wind can evoke feelings of calm and admiration for nature’s beauty. This sense of tranquility can be a starting point for a deeper relationship with the tree. Willows invite us to reconnect to the natural world and to our crafty spirits. A willow project helps us tune in to the four seasons and the cycles of nature, from the quiet harvest in fall and winter to the abundant growth in summer.
While weeping willows are the most familiar, the willow family has over 300 species in the genus, found often in moist soils in cold and temperate areas. Willows are characterized by their moisture-seeking roots and their fast growth. They’re deciduous, meaning they shed their leaves. It’s during this time of shedding in late fall when Anna Geyer, an Iowa farmer and Climate Land Leader who runs the Land Alliance Folk School, goes down to her wetland to harvest her willow shrubs, with which she’ll later create ornaments and other structures.
I had the opportunity to take a break from my technology-dominated world and enter the world of willows with Geyer at the Land Alliance Folk School, where I participated in her willow retreat. One of the things I created there was a garden trellis, and I’ll offer a DIY tutorial for it below. But before we begin with the “how,” it’s worth pausing on the “why.”
Crafting in Cycles
In a world of mass-produced, plastic garden accessories, creating with a natural, foraged material like willow offers a way to connect deeply with the Earth. For centuries, willows have provided functional craft materials in a renewable way: The more you coppice them (cut a branch to encourage new growth), the more they continue to grow.
Harvesting their branches is only the first step in a year-long cycle. Late fall is a good time to harvest, when the willow rods have shed their leaves. The winter season is a good time to craft and create. When the Earth reawakens in spring, that’s the time to place a created trellis in the garden. Then, throughout the summer growing season, one can watch their plants climb the trellises. Willow-crafting requires one to work with its unique quirks and to create something of the Earth for the Earth.
After I’d completed weaving my garden trellis at Geyer’s school, I stepped back to look at the finished obelisk, and my attention shifted from my slightly sore fingertips to wondering about this amazing plant. This trellis will eventually compost back into the earth or will be used as kindling, completing a cycle that a plastic version could never. It’s a functional piece of garden art that helps attune us to the Earth’s natural rhythms, and it stands as a quiet alternative to a disposable product.
My willow trellis won’t just be a support for my tomato plants, but it will also serve as a reminder of a different way of being. Made of living wood, the trellises can connect our creative spirits to the healing power of the Earth, a mirror for us in how our own well-being is rooted in the same natural rhythms of this resilient, graceful tree.
Versatile Willow Tree in Nature
Willows are heroes of the landscape. In addition to providing abundant crafting materials, they also take on many roles in the natural world.
- Climate allies. Among the fastest-growing temperate trees, willows are efficient at pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing carbon in their biomass.
- Habitat builders. A willow grove is a thriving ecosystem and among the best hosts for moths and butterflies. Many willow species bloom early, which is important for many native bees. Shrubby willows offer twig-like structures, which are perfect sites for nesting birds.
- Land stewards. With their moisture-seeking roots, willows are brilliant for erosion control and soil stabilization. They literally hold the earth together along riverbanks and hillsides, making them critical for flood recovery and water-quality protection.
- Plant healers. Long before pharmaceutical companies patented aspirin, cultures across the world knew about willow bark as a way to relieve pain and fevers. The bark contains salicin, the original compound from which aspirin was derived. When steeped in water, it creates a tincture that provides relief; it’s medicine from the plant world. There’s also profound symbolism here: The willow, a tree that bends but doesn’t break in storms, offers medicine that can help us “bend” with the storms of our physical pains.
But the healing offered by the willow isn’t solely chemical. The act of sitting in the shade of a weeping willow has long been associated with contemplation, a space to process. Its very presence is healing for an overstimulated mind. But perhaps the most accessible way to absorb this healing is through our hands. The rhythmic, repetitive weaving can be meditative, quieting the noise of the world as you focus on the tactile task of constructing.
Lessons from the Willow
While working with willow, I continued to glean new lessons: If a section doesn’t look or feel right, you can gently back up, undo your steps, and try again. It’s a lesson in addressing misunderstandings in life before proceeding. In an age quick to judgment, the willow offers an alternative: the wisdom to pause, reflect, and understand before weaving on.
Further, the practice of coppicing is a powerful metaphor for our own lives. It teaches us that sometimes, we must let go of old parts of ourselves to make way for new, more resilient growth.
The willow also teaches us that true strength lies not in rigid resistance, but in flexibility – the ability to bend and adapt without breaking.
The final, and perhaps most profound, lesson the willow has to offer is an economic one. Our prevailing system operates on a linear model of extraction, production, consumption, and waste – a model that’s visibly exhausting our planet and our spirits. Willows grow regeneratively. The trellis we build serves a purpose, and when its life is over, it will return to the soil as nutrients, closing the loop without waste. This stands in contrast to a plastic trellis, a product of fossil fuels that will eventually break down into permanent waste, its true cost never reflected on its price tag.
Crafting with willow asks us to reconsider value in terms of care, craftsmanship, and health of the system as a whole, a stark contrast to a world that produces in a highly extractive, unsustainable manner.
How to Make a Willow Obelisk
Having a partner with you is highly recommended if you’re new to this craft. You’ll need:
- Approximately 100 freshly cut willow rods
- Wooden template with holes drilled into it to hold the base of the rods in place
- Create the Foundation
Select 16 sturdy rods that are approximately the same height. Place them into a wooden template board so they’re spaced evenly and standing vertically, though they won’t be completely upright as demonstrated in the photo above, far left. - The ‘Triple Wale’ Weave
Select three rods to begin weaving a “triple wale” around the base. With your nondominant hand, hold the three rods horizontally in front of three vertical rods and use your dominant hand to weave the rods into the following pattern. Starting with the far-left horizontal rod, weave it in front of two of the vertical rods and then behind the third vertical rod (toward the inside of the basket). Then, repeat with the next two rods. As you come to the end of the original horizontal rods, add new ones: Insert the new rods one at a time by overlapping the thick ends with the thin tips of the previous rods and weaving the new rods into the same pattern. Continue the pattern until the border is about 4 inches deep. - Finish the Obelisk
Once your triple wale base is complete, weave two rods in an over-under pattern, alternating so that when one rod goes over a stake, the other goes under. This creates a beautiful pattern that provides excellent support for climbing plants. This pattern goes up the trellis in a gentle spiral.
For a clean finish, overlap the ends of your weaving rod with the tops of the vertical rods and then wrap them all up into a final bind, using a thin willow rod for the bind itself.
Go with the Flow
If a rod feels too stiff, walk along it to apply pressure to soften it; you can also use your finger instead. If the rod simply won’t cooperate, set it aside and use it as a vertical stake next time. Willow teaches us to work with, not against, its nature.
If a rod happens to crack, that’s alright! This happens, and more than likely, it’s just an aesthetic issue and won’t compromise the structure of the trellis.
Rozina Kanchwala is the executive director of Eco.Logic, an arts-based environmental education nonprofit. Based in the Midwest, Kanchwala is the Regenerative Storytelling and Illinois Lead for the Climate Land Leaders and also serves on the board of Climate Land Leaders.
Originally published in the August/September 2026 issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS and regularly vetted for accuracy.
