Hazel poles

[brooklynodog]

I have read that using hazel for bean poles etc is more environmentally friendly than bamboo. As my bamboo needs replacing I thought to source some hazel. Nearby is a stream with copious hazel bushes and loads of straight wood. There is a public footpath along the waterway, but the land is agricultural and i dont know who owns it. How am in law if I help myself to a couple of dozen lengths?

[Peter]

I have read that using hazel for bean poles etc is more environmentally friendly than bamboo. As my bamboo needs replacing I thought to source some hazel. Nearby is a stream with copious hazel bushes and loads of straight wood. There is a public footpath along the waterway, but the land is agricultural and i dont know who owns it. How am in law if I help myself to a couple of dozen lengths?

As a thief.

[vicky]

As Peter said!
Find out who the farmer is and phone them, they may not mind you coppicing for them!

[davefromthechipie]

I have read that using hazel for bean poles etc is more environmentally friendly than bamboo. As my bamboo needs replacing I thought to source some hazel. Nearby is a stream with copious hazel bushes and loads of straight wood. There is a public footpath along the waterway, but the land is agricultural and i dont know who owns it. How am in law if I help myself to a couple of dozen lengths?

dosnt bamboo grow faster then Hazal ? As for replacing Iv had my bamboo poles over 10 years just let them dry out...

[esrikandan]

Let your concience decide. My personal view is that if either 1) No one notices or 2) it would be wasted otherwise then take what you need without being destructive. I can't see it being *that* different from harvesting wild fruit and veg.

[brooklynodog]

As a thief.

Thanks for your subtlety

[Paulottie]

You are a bit late as the sap is rising now...get on with it.
If you gather up you hazel sticks at the end of the season and hang them in the roof of your garage they will last a few years. If you leave them out all winter they will be too brittle to use again...trade name kindling.

Can't tell you if you are trespassing or not or if it is coppiced by ownner.. but it is usually obvious if it is a cobnut orchard etc. Hazel is a weed in mainy hedgerows thanks to forgetful squirrels and so it fair enough....If farmer comes running over screaming 'gert hoff muy laaand' you probably can't.

[brooklynodog]

Can't tell you if you are trespassing or not or if it is coppiced by ownner.. but it is usually obvious if it is a cobnut orchard etc. Hazel is a weed in mainy hedgerows thanks to forgetful squirrels and so it fair enough....If farmer comes running over screaming 'gert hoff muy laaand' you probably can't.

Its a public footpath alongside a small stream in the countryside. The hazels grow as weeds really, and are not coppiced or managed at all by the landowner. Trouble is, I cannot identify who owns the land or i would just politely ask.

[Flummery]

dosnt bamboo grow faster then Hazal ? As for replacing Iv had my bamboo poles over 10 years just let them dry out...

It's not to do with the rate of growth Dave - it's becasue the bamboo is transported in from the other side of the globe. However, if you have a source of coppiced hazel nearby then the air-miles become ground yards.

[roitelet]

Just be careful, if you cut Hazel now there is a good chance that it will root so you will be growing your beans up potential trees

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, that's what I did ... all my 'locally sourced' bean poles took root !

I have lots of (Chinese presumably) ten foot bamboo canes for my climbing beans, which I look after and store over winter so I don't need to buy new every year.

For pea sticks, I collect my own prunings from whatever needs pruning - blackthorn seemed like a good idea, until I came to pick my peas and got shredded fingers

[Flummery]

I assume that's why the advice is to harvest in autumn and allow them to dry - so they don't grow into a new grove!

[esrikandan]

What if you plant the poles upside down? So the rooting end is in the air? Would that work?

[jacob marley]

Ifyou want to find out who owns the land pitch a tent and light a fire he will find you quick enough other than that ask at local post office or paper shop jacob

[Flummery]

What if you plant the poles upside down? So the rooting end is in the air? Would that work?

Usually, that will result in a pole that's thicker at the wrong end - if you get my drift? You really want the thick bit in the ground so the structure is more stable.