Grow Your Own

Beanpoles and peasticks

Gardeners for centuries have used locally grown twigs for a wide variety uses. The 'Rustic Gardens' they created established a style born out necessity that is appreciated today for its naturalism and intrinsic good environmental sense. Probably the simplest garden use of twigs, never, was as poles for supporting beans and sticks for supporting and protecting peas.
We have so lost faith in our ability to manage and supply our own wood products that a sad fact of gardening in Britain today is that it is easier to buy a Chinese twig in the form of Bamboo than the locally grown traditional hazel twig. Traditional mechanisms for supplying locally grown beanpoles and peasticks have been lost. Now however local suppliers of traditional hazel beanpoles and peasticks are increasing but supply will still be patchy for some time.

A simple solution is to grow your own! Little space is required, it creates a good wildlife habitat and is an excellent project to undertake with fellow allotment holders to make positive use of redundant allotment plots.

WHAT TO GROW

Most British trees and shrubs regrow when cut down, producing a forest of shoots from the cut stump. This characteristic, coppicing, has been used by Man in Britain for at least 4000 years. Long established techniques are available to use the small sized material that results from coppicing for a range of jobs in the garden.
It is best to grow a range of tree and shrub species as different species have different uses. The foundation of any copse will be the Beanpole species with a number of other Companion species, depending on soils and your own needs. Table 1 lists beanpole and companion plants that are likely to be suitable in most parts of the UK. There are many other potential species, including exotics. Before planting any species, ask yourself:

• Is the site suitable for it to grow (Soil type, pH, moisture, shade etc.)?
• Is the space available big enough?
• What is its rooting behaviour and is it likely to damage buildings and pipes;
• Are there any properties that might make its presence unwelcome (Poisonous, thorns, profuse root suckers etc.)?
• Is it a host for a potential garden pest, e.g. Spindle (Euonymus europoeus) is a host to the broad bean blackfly?

WILLOW
Be wary of growing Willow in garden or allotment situations. Their roots are notoriously aggressive and may damage nearby drains or foundations. Dogwood is a substitute for weaving work. Having said this Willow is n useful plant to grow if a suitable site is available.

BEANPOLE AND COMPANION SPECIES

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