The Flexible Hazel Tree

Firstly, my apologies for the delay in this second 'tree following' post. May turned out to be a rather busy month!

The Hazel tree I'm following is coming on well, all of the buds have now broken into leaf, and the tree has become alive with all sorts of flying and crawling insects!

Perhaps I will focus a future post on the invertebrate life living on this Hazel tree, however this month I've decided to focus the post on the way in which people have utilised the natural properties of hazel for thousands of years. Some of these uses I've only just learnt about in the past month or so, others I've known about for a little longer.

The European hazel is well known for it's properties as a very flexible wood when green, similar to some species of willow ('green' meaning when the wood still has a lot of moisture present within the wood, normally not long after the tree has been felled). I knew that willow could be used to create living structures, However, I had never seen the same technique applied to hazel until recently. On a recent trip back to Oxburgh Hall (National Trust) I was shown an amazing living hazel structure that the estate ranger has created.

Though the tree I'm following is not among the trees used for this structure, they are the same species. I really like the structure that's been created, it's sited within the den building area of their woodland and provides a shelter that looks great. The ranger (Damon Hill) has used some simple weaving techniques to great effect!

Another well known use for Hazel is the making of hazel hurdles, these were traditionally used by shepherds to corral sheep. Hazel is perfectly suited to making hurdles because it's so flexible; you have to bend the weavers through 180 degrees when bending them around the end zales (zales are the upright posts within a hurdle that the weavers are woven around). Below is a small hurdle that I made recently for a stall at a Norfolk Wildlife Trust event.

Coppiced hazel poles have also been traditionally used to hold together the thatching on roofs. Short hazel rods are split in two and pointed at each end. These rods or 'spars' are then twisted into a hook shape and bashed into the thatch. 

Photo credit: BBC News in pictures

Other uses which don't really rely on the flexible properties of hazel, but more on it's ability to grow back after being cut are bean poles, pea sticks and washing line props.

All of these above mentioned uses for hazel rely on it's ability to grow back after being harvested or 'coppiced'; that's what makes hazel such a sustainable resource. If you cut down a coniferous tree to harvest the wood for timber that individual tree will die, you will have to plant another tree in it's place if you want to harvest timber again in the future from that exact spot. Many of our native deciduous trees have the ability to grow back again after being cut down. This ability of hazel to be coppiced is why it has been so widely used throughout our history here in the UK. 

The Hazel trees I've been cutting over the winter have begun sending up their new growth. It's so satisfying to see this new growth coming up, knowing that in about 8 years time it'll be ready for harvesting again!

It's been really interesting getting involved in this project, remember if you'd like to get involved with the project then check out the Loose and Leafy blog.