An investigation into the properties and characteristics of our trees.
Hornbeam
Hornbeam timber is a pale, creamy white with a flecked grain. It is extremely hard; in fact it has the hardest wood of any tree in Europe. Nowadays, it’s mainly used for furniture, flooring and wood turning, but traditionally the wood was made into ox yokes which were used to join a team of ploughing oxen together. The wooden ‘beam’ would have been attached to their horns which may have contributed to the tree’s name. It’s more likely, however, that the hornbeam is so named due to the hardness of its timber – ‘horn’ means ‘hard’ and ‘beam’ was the name for a tree in old English.
Other traditional uses were butchers' chopping blocks, piano hammers, wood screws, coach wheels and cogs for windmills and water mills. It was also coppiced and pollarded for poles. The wood also burns well and makes good firewood and charcoal.
A tonic made from hornbeam was said to relieve tiredness and exhaustion, and its leaves were used to stop bleeding and heal wounds.
Larch
Timber Properties: It is hard and resistant to rot.
Environmental considerations: The seeds are eaten by red squirrels and a number of birds. The buds and immature cones are eaten by black grouse.
Timber Uses: cladding, flooring, structural uses, fencing, gates and garden furniture.
Oak
Timber Properties: Durable, one of the hardest hardwoods, dense, resists abrasions, long growing period; 150 years of growth is needed before it can be used in construction.
Environmental considerations: Oak trees support more life forms than any other tree in the UK.
Timber Uses: Heavy structural use, Cladding, joinery - exterior, joinery - interior, furniture, flooring, sleepers and decking.
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