Other landscapes generated different fibres and weaving traditions. In Mediterranean regions, craftspeople traditionally worked with esparto grass, palm leaves, reeds, and olive branches adapted to hot and dry climates. Forest regions relied on pine roots, spruce roots, bark strips, or wild climbing plants such as honeysuckle and blackberry stems (Bichard, 2008). Agricultural regions transformed rye, wheat, oat, or barley straw into baskets, mats, hats, and coiled structures through processes of twisting, binding, and stitching.

These materials were not simply “resources,” but part of complex environmental relationships. Basket makers understood where plants grew best, when fibres should be harvested, how moisture affected flexibility, and how different preparation methods transformed the material. Some willow rods were used with their bark intact, while others were peeled in spring when sap returned to the plant. Certain varieties were boiled before peeling to create darker tones (Lieckens, n.d.), while split willow fibres could be planed into fine strips for delicate weaving.

As basketry historian and researcher Maurice Bichard documented through his extensive studies of European basketry traditions, woven objects reveal an extraordinary diversity of locally adapted plant materials and techniques. The same principles of interlacing appear across Europe, yet each region developed its own responses according to landscape, climate, and available vegetation.

Basketry therefore reflects a form of environmental knowledge deeply rooted in observation and long-term relationships with the living world (Applegarth, 2022; Bichard, 2008). Working with willow, grasses, roots, or straw meant understanding seasons, wetlands, forests, drying cycles, and plant behaviour. Long before sustainability became a contemporary concern, these practices already depended on renewable materials, local sourcing, and careful management of natural resources.