THIS MONTH Hazel weaving
There’s never been a better time to go self-sufficient. In our ongoing series, Sally C oulthard shares tried-and-tested tips from her Yorkshire smallholding
My husband might not buy the best Christmas presents but, come the New Year, he definitely knows the way to my heart. He’s a gardener and between now and the end of spring, he regularly comes home with armfuls of prunings and coppiced branches. I fall on them like an eager child, sifting through for anything I can pilfer to weave into garden structures. From obelisks to pea sticks, border edging to woven cloches, I’ll do my best to put them to good use.
During winter, many organic materials can be foraged for garden structures (see opposite). One tree, however, is a particular favourite – the humble hazel. Every year, it forces out lovely, long straight stems – called rods – which make the perfect material for wigwams, garden edging and, most usefully for us, hurdles.
If cut in January and used straightaway, hazel’s ‘green’ rods are pliable, allowing you to gently bend them to your will. We have a few trees on the smallholding from which I cut rods but I’m careful not to be too greedy. At other times, I have to rely on my husband’s hauls or ask woodland owners if I can rootle on their land.
Failing that, there are lots of places that sell hazel and other hurdle materials online – many woodcrafters are also coppicers and run craft courses. Try coppice-products.co.uk to find materials, makers or courses near you. To make a hurdle, you first need to create a jig. This is just a heavy length of scrap timber with holes pre-drilled in it (about 5cm deep and 3.5cm in diameter) – I use an old pine sleeper. This will keep your upright rods (called stakes) in position as you weave thinner horizontal rods in and out. For a hurdle 1.8m wide, you will need to drill seven holes, each 30cm apart. This will give you a total distance of 1.8 metres between the furthest holes.
As for material, you will need seven stakes, each 2.5cm-3.5cm in diameter; it’s up to you how high you want the hurdle to be. You’ll also need long lengths of 2.5cm rods (or narrower) for weaving in and out. I usually average about ten-15 horizontal rods for every foot of hurdle height. Some people sharpen the points of the stakes before placing them in the jig – this allows you to hammer the finished hurdles directly into the soil. I prefer to fix my hurdles between fence posts, as they’re often keeping unruly sheep or poultry under control and need to be firmly grounded.
When your stakes are upright in the jig, start weaving the horizontal rods in and out. Do one at a time and push each rod down as far to the base of th
