{"id":32350,"date":"2023-11-13T13:31:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T12:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/15ca4187-2090-487c-9852-55cbd02e0213"},"modified":"2023-11-13T14:39:31","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T13:39:31","slug":"hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing\/","title":{"rendered":"Hazel tree guide: catkins, nuts and coppicing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"rssexcerpt\">Learn all about one of Britain&#8217;s most important tree species with our beginner&#8217;s guide to hazel trees. <\/p><p class=\"rssauthor\">By Kevin Parr\n      <\/p><p class=\"rssbyline\">Published: Monday, 13 November 2023 at 12:31 PM<\/p><hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/><?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><p>A 60-second guide to hazel trees, including what their catkins looks like, how they pollinate, why hazel nuts are important and the art of coppicing.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe title=\"A year in the life of a hazel tree\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gUKDaZRvDS4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A year in the life of a hazel tree\/Credit: Woodland Trust<\/figcaption><\/figure><h3 id=\"h-hazel-catkins\">Hazel catkins<\/h3><p>Come February, a soft shimmer of yellow appears in hazel (<em>Corylus avellana<\/em>) trees and bushes. It is subtle, with shades of wild hibiscus rather than golden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/trees-plants\/guide-british-daffodils\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">daffodil<\/a>, but still it contrasts sharply with the otherwise denuded branches.<\/p><p>The colour comes from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/trees-plants\/how-to-identify-catkins\">catkins<\/a>, the male flowers of the hazel, which hang fluffy and limp like the lambs tails by which they are also known. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/insects-invertebrates\/bee-guide-how-to-identify-where-to-spot-and-how-to-attract-bees-to-your-garden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bees<\/a> mooch around the branches, slowed by the cold air but collecting precious <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/how-to-identify\/key-insect-pollinators-of-summer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pollen<\/a> from the amber spirals.<\/p><p>The hazel doesn\u2019t rely upon the bees for pollination and instead lets the wind scatter its pollen across the small, red-tufted female flowers that are tucked up tight against the twigs and branches. When the sun shines on a breezy winter day, yellow clouds of pollen may billow above a hazel copse.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hazel catkins on a sunny winter morning\/Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/><h3>Hazel nuts<\/h3><p>The flowers, once fertilised, will begin the gradual transformation into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/trees-plants\/how-to-identify-nuts-and-seeds-from-12-familiar-british-trees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nuts<\/a> with which we are so familiar. Back in the autumn, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/birds\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-where-to-see\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">woodpeckers<\/a> hammered into the brown shells while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/mammals\/9-fascinating-facts-about-dormice\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dormice<\/a> nibbled neat holes before gorging themselves ready for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/hibernation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hibernation<\/a>. Other mammals such as squirrels, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/wildlife\/mammals\/guide-to-britains-shrews-mice-and-voles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mice and voles<\/a> will have cached hazelnuts in log piles or beneath the ground and those that aren\u2019t recovered may germinate to one day form catkins of their own.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/47\/2023\/06\/Hazel-dormouse-Muscardinus-avellanarius-1da7470.jpg?fit=1024,1024\" alt=\"A young hazel dormouse peering out through the leaves of a beech tree in Leigh Woods in Bristol\" class=\"wp-image-147989\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Dormice nibble neat holes in hazel nuts before gorging themselves ready for hibernation\/Credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure><hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/><h3>Hazel coppicing<\/h3><p>Left alone, the hazel may survive for a relatively short 80 years, but coppicing encourages growth for many hundreds more. Upon reaching a diameter of around 7.5cm (3 in), the first trunk is cut back to the stool. Multiple stems then grow that will be coppiced again every 6 to 10 years. These growths are long, straight and incredibly flexible, perfect for the construction of hurdle fencing and useful too for lightweight walking sticks, beanpoles and even rod rests for fishermen.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn all about one of Britain&#8217;s most important tree species with our beginner&#8217;s guide to hazel trees. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":32351,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2023\/11\/hazel-tree-guide-catkins-nuts-and-coppicing-2048x1366.jpg",2048,1366,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Learn all about one of Britain's most important tree species with our beginner's guide to hazel trees.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/32350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}