Living Structures for your School & Home
We create engaging natural spaces from willow for children to explore and inhabit.
We design, create and maintain these structures that fire up childrens’ imaginations along with their interest in conservation and environmental issues.
What We Do
Planting
We use biomass willow from Somerset.
A variety of willow is used to add a range of texture and colour .
Structures
We design and create a variety of structures suitable for your outdoor space.
Igloos, tunnels, arches, bowers, fences and pods: a range of spaces for children to interact with.
Maintenance
We will visit the site twice each year to carry out regular maintenance of your willow.
We carry out regular pruning, trimming and re-shaping where necessary.
"The ladies at Creative Living Willow have taken care of our willow structure here at Garras Primary for a number of years and have provided invaluable service in its care and maintenance in that time. We are very grateful for their expertise."
Garras Primary School, Helston
"Chris and Gwyneth have been looking after the willow at St Martin's for many years, come rain or shine they make sure the willow keeps looking its best.
The children find it all very interesting and thoroughly enjoy watching them at work! The domed willow provides a great space for children to play and is often a jail, a den, a house or a castle. The open-ended opportunities are endless and the children love it!"
Meet Creative Living Willow
Chris has had a life long interest in growing things. This led to courses on willow structures in Somerset.
The opportunity arose to help build some of these in gardens and in schools.
Having been in education for 35 years she saw the need and opportunity to provide such structures for others to use and enjoy and at the same time encourage children to care for their environment.
Gwyneth is a freelance artist specialising in watercolours and ceramics.
Following an extensive career in Art and Primary education and as a practising artist and potter, Gwyneth was keen to develop further skills using living willow.
She attended training in the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, North Wales and on the Somerset levels where she learned the basic skills needed to work successfully with this medium.