7. PLANTS USED FOR BASKETRY (Basketry Pt 1 of 3) Grow your own basket-making materials or forage for them. The list of basketry plants is much longer than you’d have thought!

The ancient rhythms of basket weaving are so therapeutically satisfying and peaceful, you’ll want to have basket-making as your new relaxing hobby. And you end up with beautiful, useful creations to show off to your friends. Baskets can be made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials—anything that will bend to form a shape. Plants for a Future, (PFAF) lists over 300 plants used for basketry. These include, for example, various vines, rushes, palms, reeds, bamboos, irises, willows, grasses, dogwoods, hazels, broom and heather, flax lilies, pines, firs and cottonwoods, bracken and yuccas. The wood of certain trees, such as ash or white oak, can be split into fine wooden splints. You can also use strips of the inner bark of trees to weave baskets. Suitable species include linden, cedar, birch and poplar. We recommend growing your own basketry materials in your garden, or foraging for them (ethically and sustainably) in the wild. Try making baskets with blackberry brambles, Honeysuckle, Hop (Humulus lupus), Ivy (Hedera spp), Periwinkle (Vinca spp), Roses (Rosa spp) Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) Winter flowering jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) Wisteria Akebia, Boston ivy (Parthenocissus trisupidata), morning glory. Thin whippy Garden prunings Cotoneaster Dogwood grapevine young shoots of eucalyptus (gum trees) hazel and even sweetcorn husks. See our photos on Instagram at Mill Cottage, the Little House on the Peninsula Watch our videos on YouTube at Craftsteading Visit our website at www.craftsteading.com