Hawthorn, potential?

[Hack Yeah!]

I've only found one hawthorn in the woods around my place, it's got a great flaring base with a natural hollow. Unfortunately, it turns into telephone pole after that. Any one see a way to work with this material? @Brian Van Fleet how well do the chop sites heal on these?

 

[Mike Hennigan]

Looks like a nice base, the hollow where you can see through to the other side is pretty rad. In gerneral Hawthorns don’t heal scars very well, and any substantial trunk chop like the one this will need you can pretty much count on it never healing. Which is totally fine. I may be wrong, we’ll see when BVF chimes in, but I don’t think the chop on his famous little hip hawthorn ever healed fully.

If anything I think massive wounds/scar/hollows on hawthorn are more than appropriate. Hawthorns are pretty closely related to Apple trees. If you find old hawthorns or old apples in nature you will often find that the trunks of the tree can be completely hollow and have been for decades but the tree lives on. In my opinion to have a scareless hawthorn would be suggestive of a very young tree and not be very interesting to look at. You could always hollow out the trunk around where you make the chop. I think embracing deadwood characteristics is definitely the way to go with collected hawthorn.

 

[Shinjuku]

In my opinion to have a scareless hawthorn would be suggestive of a very young tree and not be very interesting to look at.

I think embracing deadwood characteristics is definitely the way to go with collected hawthorn.

Many times, the scars are what tells the story of a tree. A diamond with a flaw is worth more than a pebble without imperfections. Even imperfection itself can exist in a perfect state.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Thanks Mike, I doubt I could pass it up anyway. Hopefully there will be a thread for it here once day.

Next decision. How much trunk to keep above the flair?

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I've only found one hawthorn in the woods around my place, it's got a great flaring base with a natural hollow. Unfortunately, it turns into telephone pole after that. Any one see a way to work with this material? @Brian Van Fleet how well do the chop sites heal on these?

This has an interesting base, with a hollow already there, almost like a bald cypress. I’d chop it where the red line is when you collect it in the spring. The chop probably won’t heal in your lifetime, so plan to incorporate it in the design, or make it to the back of the tree. Potentially a good find.

 

[Hack Yeah!]

Excellent! Thank you for taking a look and that is exactly the advice I needed on the chop.