The Easy Way to Grow Your Own Aravos – Willow Branches

Of the Arba Minim – the 4 Species of Sukkos – there is only one that’s easy to grow at home at high quality:

Aravos – Aravot – Willow

In fact, willow trees are so easy to grow in Israel that they are considered a noxious weed. The tree’s invasive, rapidly spreading roots have been known to destroy plumbing pipes and foundations of homes. 

So definitely don’t plant a willow tree in your yard… especially if, like most people reading this here in Israel, you don’t have a yard!

The good news is that Willow Trees do fine in pots, as long as you water them well and give them fertilizer occasionally. When contained in a pot, there is no need to worry that the roots will wreak destruction.

The other good news is that willows are extremely hard to kill! (Just ask any tree pro who gets paid to try!)

So even if you have no garden and you’re not particularly green in the thumb, it’s easy to grow a small willow tree in a large pot on your porch. 

Here’s How to Grow your Own Aravos by Next Sukkos:

Option #1: Adventurous

1. Take a few fresh, healthy looking willow branches (usually not hard to find after Hoshana Rabba!)
2. Cut off the ends at a 45 degree angle and strip off all the leaves except the uppermost 5 or so.
3. Stick the cut ends into a pot of moist soil and keep the soil continually moist for the next few months. The kitchen windowsill is a good spot, because it makes it easy to water it often.
4. God-willing your willows should soon develop a good root system. Keep the best one and cut down the others. 
5. This plant should grow extremely fast if well watered and well fed, so you will easily have a nice-sized bush within 6 months. 
6. Transplant it to a large pot when it’s ready, 

Option #2: Safe

Buy a willow sapling at the nursery and plant it in a large pot. Water regularly when it’s not raining.

Bloomah’s Secret to Successful Aravos – Coppice Your Willow

To get an abundance of long, straight, slender aravos stems, I have found that it’s best to “coppice” my tree in the winter – which means cutting down the entire tree. 

Hold on, did I just tell you to cut down your beloved beautiful tree? Yes I did!

Coppicing is an ancient art that was used in woodland management when people needed to cut down trees for wood, but didn’t want to destroy the whole forest. Yes – in the old days, people knew how to do that! An expert woodsman managed a good stock of coppicing trees in the forest, and would cut them down in careful rotation and thereby have a never-ending supply of timber and firewood. 

Did you know that some trees love to be cut down? A willow is certainly in that category. They easily grow back stronger than ever. 

(I wish I had a pic of our coppiced willow from last winter. Meanwhile, below is an illustration of coppicing, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: A wood that was managed with coppicing was known as a “copse”. So if you’ve ever encountered that word in classic English literature and had no idea what it meant, now you know!

Even though I am not exactly an expert woodsman managing a vast woodland, I admit to feeling a great deal of old-world satisfaction when I coppice my one little willow tree in its big plastic pot. In January, when the tree has lost most of its leaves, I take out my extremely-dusy, somewhat-rusty folding saw and saw the whole tree down – leaving only some lonely stumps about 15cm above soil level. It’s a nice workout for the upper arms and an immensely satisfying accomplishment. 

Anyone who has never sawed down a small tree by hand simply doesn’t know what they’re missing!

Last year, I used the branches from my felled willow tree to make a basket. My basket weaving skills are a bit… err… rustic… but I love the natural reddish color!

The other advantage of cutting down your tree every year, is that it will never get too big, which is obviously important if you’re growing it in a small space. Our willow tree is 5 years old and has never grown taller than about 2 meters.

(Note: if sawing down a tree is not your idea of “easy care”, this is not essential. An agressive trim with a pair of clippers should also do the trick.)

More Wonders of Willow

If you are renting your home, a potted willow is an ideal tree to grow, as it’s relatively easy to transport to a new home, especially when it’s just been coppiced. Since willow is not food-producing, there will be no concerns of having to wait 3 years for orlah every time you move it. You can harvest from the first year with no concerns. 

Our potted willow tree gives so much! I really enjoy watching the flexible reddish stems and greenish leaves shimmering in the breeze. The yellow pom-pom flowers are delightful in springtime. I also love to brush past the leaves as I walk by the tree. It’s a botanical carress. 

But mostly, I love our willow tree for the aravos it gives us on Sukkos. My husband and sons pick fresh branches throughout the 7-day festival. When guests come to our sukkah, we invite them to rejuvenate their lulav by picking some fresh aravos. 

On Hoshana Rabba we pick what’s left and each member of the family has a great time whacking their own bunch against the ground. 

Try your hand at growing your own willow and let me know how it goes.