My pea supports are blossoming!

[vixfinn]

I used the prunings from our bramley apple tree to make a wigwam type structure to support my peas in their large pot. However I may have put them in too early as several weeks later all 4 are blossoming and there are leaves at the top! They are about 3 and a half feet high. I'm wondering whether they are rooting or just drinking the water?? What should I do with them?

[Alex_Parrott]

I have the same problem only with willow. Pulled them all up yesterday to find they were all rooting and quite vigourosly. What I did notice however was the roots were only coming from where I had left the bark on. I had used a knife to make a point on the end of each one and where I had cut there were no roots. Perhaps you could try taking the bark away and see what happens.

If anyoen has any alternative ideas I would to like to hear them

[FB.]

The twigs/branches are still alive. Most will die as the ground dries out.
A few might manage to root but most apples are notoriously difficult to get to root from cuttings.
If you don't want the risk of them rooting, just strip-off any leaves that grow.......or just pull them up at the end of the year and any roots they've formed will be pulled up with them.
Those with flowers will almost certainly die because flowers are a major drain on the reserves of a plant.

Willow, on the other hand, is a very vigorous and fast-rooting tree and cuttings will nearly always root within a few weeks and start growing strongly.
A twelve-inch-long and half-inch-wide cutting of willow twig can make a tree several feet tall in one season.

[vixfinn]

Phew! Thanks for that. They look quite pretty at the mo so will leave them be. Must be quite a shock for Alex with the willow though

[Flummery]

My willow chicken sculpture is rooting! I'm deliberately rooting willow twigs at the moment though - I want to do more willow work and basket work next year so a good long year's growth is smashing!

[vixfinn]

Great idea Flummery, I should try that!