Corkscrew Hazel

Also known as crazy hazel, curly hazel, and Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick (one of those rare cases where a comic in living memory has given his name to a native plant) but actually Corylus avellana 'Contorta', this lovely tree will ultimately grown to twenty feet, but it will take at least 25 years to do so because it is so slow-growing.

While it’s a pretty tree all year round, it comes into its own in winter when the curiously contorted stems stand out against the sky and then in early spring, February and March, when it develops very large and well coloured catkins before the spring foliage appears. In April the mid green leaves, which are also twisted, appear.

It’s an ideal plant for the middle of a sunny border or even for a large container. The twisted stems can easily be pruned to keep it in shape, which is good because they are very popular with flower-arrangers. The plant as a whole will provide a curious and unusual focal point for a zen type garden but equally looks interesting as a specimen tree in a lawn.

It grows well in either full sun or partial shade in a well-drained, fertile soil and it’s quite keen on chalk. It’s fully hardy in the UK and thrives on our native weather conditions. It doesn’t need much care, only pruning dead, diseased and damaged wood in March, or pruning for shape and an annual mulch of well-rotted organic matter around the base of the plant when the catkins have gone.

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