I am not sure you can prevent them going dormant. You want the cuttings to survive until spring, when normal growth will resume, at least that is what I get from your post. The amount of stored energy in the wood of the cuttings without more information is difficult to guess. I have good luck burying dormant cuttings in moist soil and keeping them at refrigerator temperatures through the winter. For this I like cuttings about a foot long and at least 3/8 inches diameter. Al

HI;

Thanks for the response. At least one of them is that large, some of the others are smaller.

Jamie

I got some cuttings last year, & after some research decided to try just sticking some in the ground outside. We had one of the worst winters here, hit record temps for days on end, & they survived the winter fine. I also stuck some in a pot, watered it fairly often, & it took off too when I moved it outside this spring. I tried one more in just plain water, & it wound up dying before winter was full on. So for me, the less attention, the more successful I've been.

Hi,
I worked for a few years doing hotel gardens/displays. It's been my experience that the curly willow cuttings we've used for outdoor displays in Ottawa were kept frozen in the winter in the planter containers. When we pulled them out in the spring for new garden displays about 80% had roots on them and we planted them at home, rather than throw them out. Mother nature takes good care of them. You may want to research 'healing in wood cuttings'. This is along the same principle of taking cuttings in the fall and putting them in dirt for the winter to root in the spring.

You can put them in the ground outside or put the pot you have outside - if possible sink it in the ground for protection if it is a small pot. Or the suggestion to keep it in a cold location to go dormant is a very good idea - even a garage.

I hope this helps,
Cheers,
Peggy