Will Be Willows

I did not have to go far to find a blip this morning. I pulled up at my usual parking spot and stepped out of the vehicle. The early light was lovely with the scene before me looking fresh and green. The resultant image is looking downstream towards the distant Richmond Range.
The local council has been planting more willows along the river banks and Taylor River flood way. Willow trees are useful for preventing erosion by stabilizing the river banks. Just a month or so ago contractors came along with a digger and prepared the ground for planting. Then they followed up by placing willow poles into the prepared ground. The poles just looked like bare sticks in the ground for some time and then in the last few days they started to sprout tiny leaves at their tips. This future row of trees is in the foreground. Behind them can be seen an earlier planting which was made a few months ago. They have progressed from just a few tufts of leaves at the tips to several spindly branches…some fan shaped. These branches are presently covered in little pussy-willow catkins along their length with a handful of leaves at their tips. It amazes me just how quickly willows can grow from rudimentary sticks.
In years gone by willows were planted alongside braided rivers in the back country in areas where some landscapes, although lovely with tussocks and other native grasses, were bereft of any trees. They grew quickly and provided emergency firewood for hardy workers of the land in our high country.