Learn how to make Living Willow Sculptures

in a little over an hour!!

Steve Pickup will lead you Step-by-Step along the way.

A bold claim indeed! However we can back that up with the fact many people have gone on to successfully make their own sculptures, only from watching the DVD.

This was the objective from the very start of this project. To create an interactive DVD, that enables the learner to get all the relevant information necessary to help them to get out and make things.

Everything was filmed specifically for this project,
following the creation of a fedge and arch, from start to finish!

These pictures are screenshots from the DVD.

Watching the DVD you'll learn:

• How to decide where to site your sculpture. It's important to take significant factors into account, like the shade given by surrounding trees (especially if you're planting during the winter).
• Go through all the tools and materials that are useful and those that are essential, like the long metal rod that creates the holes in the earth for the willow the be planted, the no-dig way!
• Detailed explanation and demonstration of how to weave. Essential skill for the elegant no-dig design to work. This is where video comes into it's own. It's makes it all very straightforward.
• The Anatomy of a Fedge. It's the basic element of all structures, once you know and understand this then you can go on to make whatever sculpture you dream up!!
• All the tricks of the trade that Steve has developed over the last 14 years!!
• Very importantly! How to care for your sculpture. When to prune and how.

Buy through Amazon.co.uk

Here's why a DVD is a great way to learn.

You see a Living Willow Sculpture in a park.

You think to yourself that it'd be great to have something like that in my garden. Something that children can safely play in. When you get home you look around the web and you see there are courses on how to make them. They look great... like the ones Steve Pickup runs! But they are a long way away, it'll take a whole weekend, it'll cost a fair bit of cash and you have no guarantee that the course will be any good! (Even though I can very much vouch for Steve's courses, I've been on one!!)

You look on Amazon and you buy a 2nd hand book.

It arrives very promptly. It was very cheap. It has lots of pictures of sculptures in beautiful locations. It gives some clues as to what is involved. But it's far from clear how you'd actually start to make anything. The diagrams are well drawn, but you can't quite work out how it all fits together. So you look again on the web and you see a DVD is available, that costs a fair bit more than a book. But not as much as a weekend course.... So you give it a go!

You buy the Making Living Sculptures DVD.

You buy it straight from the makers and it arrives promptly in 100% recycled packaging. You set aside some time in the evening to watch it without interruptions, well you try! The DVD starts off in a main menu, with which you can navigate to all parts of the process and has lots of extra features. But there is a very useful PLAY ALL button that means you don't have to work out what's happening too much. You kick back and follow the DVD and by the end you are across pretty much everything you'd want to know about planning, designing, planting, building and caring for living willow sculptures! If you don't believe me, read the feedback we've received...

This DVD will give you the confidence
to get out there and make something special!

Top Quality Production Standards

This DVD was filmed over 4 days in the beautiful Forest of Dean. The cameraman, Ben Rowland, is a professional with over 10 years experience. He offered his skills to this project due to his love of nature, to learn about Living Willow and to use one of the first new High Definition cameras on the market!

Crystal Clear Audio Throughout

The reason for highlighting this is because the sound on a lot of instructional DVDs are difficult to hear because the sound is quiet and sometimes distorted. The advantage of high quality sound, is that you can concentrate on the content and not struggle to follow what's being said!

Close Ups when you need them

When we filmed this we put ourselves in the viewers / learners shoes and thought - what are the tricky parts here? Where can people get lost? Do we need a close up here? Do we need extra clarification? Because of this we have created something that 100% of people who sent back our feedback questionnaire said that it communicated what they needed to know and were able to go on an create a sculpture!

Here is a short clip from the DVD, when Steve explains how to thread the weaver.

Buy the DVD through Amazon.co.uk for your safety and peace of mind. There are several reviews on my sellers page, as well as the product page.

Testimonials:

"I've learnt a new skill which I will certainly use again. I have a lovely fedge, had fun building it and all from a DVD, brilliant!"
Joanna Hooper, London. (emailed)

.... I sat with it the day after it arrived and couldn't believe how simple and clear all of the instructions were. Steve Pickup couldn't have been any more comprehensive, with tips for softening the willow rods to make them more pliable, to standing back and inspecting your handiwork and not being afraid to re-manipulate bits, because it's 'never too late' to re-adjust uneven sections that you've just worked on. As an allotmenteer, I'm used to constructing temporary structures like beanstalks, but this has inspired me to try something prettier elsewhere. if I thought I could get away with it on my plot, I'd fill it with beautiful arches and fedges. This DVD is truly inspirational! Check it out and join the willow army! Makes the prospect of 'going green' even more exciting. Thanks guys!
Ms. Jacqueline Smith, Wolverhampton (read the full review at Amazon.co.uk)

"Steve Pickup is obviously passsionate about willow. WIth his hand-woven sunhat he almost looks like a character from Trumpton, and his easy manner and infectious enthusiasm guides you through the practical steps of producing living willow structures. Well produced and easy to watch, this DVD acts as a great tutorial to the exciting possibilities offered by this unusual craft.
Strongly recommended to anyone considering living willow either as a hobby or as a one-off project for their garden, I found it much easier to see on video the detail of tying knots and getting tension right than looking at diagrams or photographs in a book. Excellent."
Glenn-emlyn Richards, France.(review taken from Amazon.co.uk)

"After realizing that a lovely tunnel type structure made of sticks in my local park was actually living willow, I was intrigued to find out more. This DVD is great. It's much more interesting to watch this than read about living willow, and makes it so easy to have a go yourself. I like the pace and energy of it. If you are at all interested, buy this and get started!"
R. J. Pierce, London. (review taken from Amazon.co.uk)

"This DVD is incredible, its highly informative and well structured. I'd bought several books about making living willow structures but still didn't really have an idea on how to get started. The DVD walks you through the whole process with clear and precise instructions without being too boring and bombarding you with useless information."
David Bradley, Hampshire. (review taken from Amazon.co.uk)