The bottom of my 90’ garden is bordered by a ditch fed from an upstream
spring. One of the effects of this is that it is quite damp with the water
table barely 2’ below ground level. There is no fence – it borders
directly with the edge of the long garden of a property around the corner.

So, I was thinking about planting a row of willow at the bottom to provide
a screen and some interest when looking down the garden from the house.
What I was planning was two parallel rows which could be coppiced
alternate winters so that there would always be a screen. The garden faces
south-east so the willow will be shaded from the morning sun by shrubs in
the other garden. But will get some late afternoon and evening sun before
it disappears behind the house.

I appreciate that we are now at the very end of the planting season for
this so am going to need to get a move on and maybe accept whatever
varieties are still available.

Any suggestions for the best variety for this purpose would be much
appreciated. Some winter colour would be nice but not essential. I would
prefer something with traditional long slender leaves but could be
persuaded otherwise.

Andrew