Walking sticks are usually hazel. Some are cut for making into horn-headed sticks, and some are cut with a bit of base to allow a carved head to be incorporated into the stick. Hazel for sticks should ideally be cut in winter, and left to stand in bundles of ten or so, tied round in several places along their length, on an uninsulated concrete floor for about a year until dry.
Hazel can also be used for pea and bean supports, or set up as curved frames for a covering of mesh or polythene to protect seedlings/strawberries... For such purposes it can be used green.
Hurdles are fairly easy to make except the process is very hard on the palms of the maker's hands, at least initially. The uprights are placed into a heavy batten (a railway sleeper is ideal) and the holes into which they go must be set on a curve from end to end of the chosen length for the hurdle, and drilled out to about three inches deep.
Once the uprights are fixed in place, hazel rods and split rods are woven through the structure and hammered down tight with a club-like length of wood. Each new layer must be started at least a third way into the length so that the ends are secure. The damage to the hands comes from the practice of twisting the rods at the ends of the hurdle before resuming the weaving, and can cause blistering.
When the hurdle is completed, it is released from its curved shape and laid flat on a hard surface. The process of settling and flattening out serves to tighten the whole thing up, and it becomes quite robust and sturdy.
Topic: Hazel uses (Read 4879 times)
