Many of our products are seasonal and by early summer each year we have generally run out of stock – this is most true of bean poles and other hazel flower sticks up to 6 feet long as well as hazel pea sticks. If in doubt do drop us a line. If you are too late for this year, we are happy to take your order for next year at any point.
We make a range of products for home and garden using our own grown hazel and willow. Please take a look through these products and see what takes your fancy. Many of our products are seasonal but we are happy to take orders at any time of the year.
Click on these links to read more about the things we make and sell
- Willow plant supports
- Flower sticks
- Hazel bean poles
- Hazel pea sticks
- Willow balls
- Willow hurdles and continuous weave fences
- Besom brooms
- Hazel and willow tunnels
- Arches and domes
- Trellis
- Living willow
- Dead Hedging
- Wreaths and stars
- Hedge Laying Materials
- Charcoal
- Silver Birch
- Gate hurdles
Gift certificates
We offer gift certificates to redeem against any of our products so if you are after a gift for someone who might appreciate something from Wassledine – a willow plant support or perhaps some wonderful bean hazel poles – there’s more information here.
Plant supports
These are very popular with gardeners looking for a bit of elegant height in a potager, cottage garden or anywhere else for that matter. Several customers have told us that climbing plants aren’t essential.
Three 15 inch diameter, 5 feet tall willow obelisks
They are 100% willow, some with a pointy top and others are rounded; the former we call obelisks, the latter cloches or domes. We produce these in a range of diameters, usually with a woven section at the base to hold the uprights in place and can be made from around 2-6′ tall.
Two finishes:
– spiral (one or two willow spirals), or random (willow run between the uprights in a series of random curves)
These finishes are not only attractive but add some strength and hold the uprights in place.
Here’s a selection of the type of things we make. If you don’t see what you want, we are happy to make bespoke items (or at least have a try) if you’ve got something in mind for your garden.
obelisk
From £19
Here’s a selection of our obelisks
Click on the thumbnail images to see full size versions
Lumpwood Charcoal, for your barbeque
We produce high quality bbq charcoal that we sell direct, by appointment (call or email to arrange a collection), at £8/bag, or through a number of select local outlets – see our charcoal page for more information.
Sticks for your garden
We supply lots of gardeners with simple sticks for supporting plants – branched pea sticks, bean poles, shorter sticks for flower supports… These are all grown in Gravenhurst and can be either willow or hazel, depending on which you prefer.
The mainstream, garden centre solution is usually bamboo which isn’t a patch on hazel or willow in most situations and is often brought in from abroad. It’s also mostly very smooth, which isn’t the best finish for your favourite climber to cling to. Try hazel or willow and you’ll appreciate the difference. They are darker, so far less visually intrusive, can be supplied with branches and bends and a bit of roughness which your plants will thank you for (probably not verbally).
Hazel bean poles
The naturally nobbly solution to plant support problems
Hazel rods (rarely truly straight, 7’6″ (230cm) x 0.8– 1.2″ (20-30cm), one end pointed). We can cut poles shorter or longer on request
Price £2.00 each
So much better than bamboo (which is too smooth, the wrong colour and usually imported), hazel is naturally nobbly and provides great support for any climbing plant, particularly your rampant runners. We cut our bean poles to 7’6″ (230cm) long and point one end to make them easy to push into the ground. We can supply them longer or shorter if you prefer. Once you’ve tried hazel, we are sure you won’t want to go back to bamboo.
Visit our hazel page for more information about our hazel coppice work.
Flower sticks
We thought we should offer stakes of the same excellent quality as our bean poles, just shorter. So we’ve started to put bundles of 10 pointed, hazel sticks together at 6 feet, 5 feet, 4 feet and 3 feet.
3, 4, 5 and 6 foot pointed, hazel flower sticks available now
Prices (in bundles of 10):
3 feet (0.9m) – £8
4 feet (1.2m) – £10
5 feet (1.5m) – £12.50
6 feet (1.8m) – £17
Hazel pea sticks
Bundles of 15 hazel pea sticks ready for sale
Hazel tops, approx 4’6″-6′ (137-168cm) branched sticks, 1/4″-3/4″ (0.6cm-1.9cm) diameter at the base. One angled cut to base to give a point).
In bundles of 15 @ £7.50 per bundle.
In bundles of 50 @ £25 per bundle (1-3 bundles)
In bundles of 50 @ £24 per bundle (4 or more bundles)
The bees knees for peas! Yes these branching hazel tops are the best solution for any scrambling plant – peas, sweet peas, nasturtiums… They also provide excellent leaning posts for those leggy herbaceous plants; the likes of delphiniums, that can so easily be knocked down in summer winds especially if your garden is in an exposed location. You’ll need to get them in early in the spring so that your plants can grow through them. Because they are dark and quite attractive in their own right, they won’t look out of place whilst your plants get cracking through the spring. You’ll see them in some of the best gardens around the UK.
Pea stick action shots; how the pros do it. Left – early April (thanks to Charlotte at the Wormsley Estate) and right – Geraniums leaning on a pea stick frame in late June (thanks to Anne at Woburn Abbey)
Visit our hazel page for more information about our hazel coppice work.
Besom brooms
We started producing besoms in 2019 because having made and used some, they were a revelation! For some uses they are just streets ahead of square headed brooms. This is particularly true where there’s a corner to reach, but there are other uses where they seem to excel. Shifting leaves and sand on grass – they are often used by golf course green keepers and cricket groundsmen; I’m told they work wonders on making a gravel driveway look neat and tidy; and I’m finding that a besom is the sweeping tool of choice for my workshop floor which is always covered in wood shavings, bits of cut willow and lots of other stuff.
Ours are made with either hazel or sallow handles cut from our own woodland and birch heads cut last
winter, from a local nature reserve (currently Maulden Heath and Rammamere Heath, thanks to Sue and Bob at the Greensand Trust). The heads are bound with our own basket making willow so there’s no metal involved at all (not sure why that’s important but I like it).
Besoms tend to be made in summer. Stocks are limited as the birch, cut the previous winter, needs a good six months to season. When it’s gone we can’t make more until the next summer.
We run a besom making day each summer – if you would like to make your own, please let us know or visit our course and events page.
I wrote a blog post about besoms. If you’re interested, take a look here.
Brooms also available to buy via our Etsy page.
Willow balls
A 24 inch willow ball in multicoloured willow
Although I’m regularly asked what their purpose might be, I’m really short of a convincing answer. You could grow a plant through one if you wanted….
So if you can’t be doing with pointless willow things, look away now.
Made entirely from willow (no wire, string or other artificial stuff) a willow ball would add a beautifully sculptural element to your garden or home (admittedly you’ll probably need a larger than standard sized home). Customers have hung them from trees, used them as Christmas decorations and arranged flowers around them, but mostly they just get looked at.
From £55
Take a look at some images of our willow balls
Click on the thumbnail images to see full size versions
Fancy making your own? We run occasional courses in our beautiful small wood that will send you home with a willow ball you’ve made yourself. Take me there!
Hurdles and continuous weave fencing
We make hurdle panels (made in our workshop) and continuous fencing (built on site), mostly from willow but with some hazel and sweet chestnut stakes and also birch thrown in. These produce a beautiful and instant barrier which would add something really lovely to your garden.
These are natural and untreated so don’t last forever, but as long as panels are anchored strongly and you resist the temptation to climb on them, they will last several years.
One cunning way to use them is to plant shrubs or perhaps a hedge in front of a hurdle fence or use natural fencing as a foundation for climbing woody plants. In this way, you’ll make the best of their brilliant instant effect as your more permanent feature develops.
Contact us for details and for a price for your project. All our panels are made to order. We make most panels during the spring but are very pleased to receive orders at any other time of the year.
Take a look at some Wassledine hurdles
Click on the thumbnail images to see full size versions
Hazel and willow tunnels
Made in situ, these tunnels are great for anyone wanting a bit of height in their garden. How lovely to pick runner beans and other climbing edibles whilst strolling through a tunnel. We can make these in widths from around 1 – 2.5m, height to about 2m and pretty much any length.
The tunnel in the pictures is all hazel but we have made them using a combination of willow and hazel.
Please note – these tunnels are temporary structures. All the materials are natural and untreated so will only last for perhaps a couple of years in a perfect state. After this the component sticks start to break. They are fairly easy to repair though.
Here are some past tunnels
Click on the thumbnail images to see full size versions
Structures in hazel and willow
We can supply willow and hazel if you are considering creating this kind of thing yourself. Alternatively we might be able to do it for you.
We built the arches to the left and right in May 2015 for a wedding party. They are made from hazel dressed with our favourite contorted willow ‘Caradoc’ and frame two paths to a beautiful yurt where the lucky couple were to spend their first night of marital bliss.
We are always pleased to talk about your ideas and can provide advice if you need it. Some of our most pleasing projects have been the result of collaborations with really creative clients, so if you have ideas and need help with materials and perhaps the practical side of things, do get in touch.
Take a look at some of our arches and domes, a tepee and a chuppah
Click on the thumbnail images to see full size versions
Living willow
In some carefully chosen locations willow can make a very effective and quick living fence, sometimes known as a ‘fedge’. It is very attractive and forms an excellent barrier in its first year. In some situations, we can incorporate coloured willows to give wonderful winter interest; take a look at our willow page to see the variety of colours we grow.
However there are significant factors that need to be considered before going ahead with a living fence or indeed anything using living willow.
Maintenance – Once established, willow grows very fast. This is good if that’s what you want, but it means regular cutting or a relaxed view to leaving possibly huge growth until the end of each year. Left unmanaged, without pruning, a living fence will become a row of attractive willow trees in only a few years.
Root run – To support vigorous top growth willow produces lots of root which can be a nuisance. Don’t plant it close to buildings, drains or your favourite flower bed!
Ground preparation – Willow is best grown from unrooted hardwood cuttings. In its first year it is very vulnerable to competition from weeds and to desiccation. Ground preparation is crucial – in the example pictured, a 2m wide strip was power harrowed to clear all weed growth, and produce a fantastic soft and deep tilth, and the willow was planted through a plastic mulching strip to trap moisture and suppress weeds.
We can send you some notes about using live willow.
Still keen? Please contact us to talk about what you’ve got in mind.
01462 711815
Some living willow projects we have worked on
Click on the thumbnail images to see full size versions
Dead Hedging
Dead Hedging, as it’s often called, is a method of piling up cut material between two rows to stakes to create a barrier/screen entirely from natural materials. Over time these naturally breakdown and can easily be topped up with cut material from your garden. The decaying wood makes fantastic habitat for insects and nesting birds and can provide a naturalistic backdrop to climb plants up. We supply a variety of materials to garden designers from fine silver birch, to larger logs that can be piled up to create differing effects.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 – Saatchi Gallery Show Garden by David Green.
RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2023 – ‘The Nest’ installation by Sam Southgate
Christmas wreaths and stars
From the plainest, single colour hoop to large and thick, multi-coloured extravaganzas, wreaths are popular at Christmas and increasingly at other times of year too – Easter and autumn seem to be popular.
They can be used as they are (they are quite beautiful), or decorated with whatever takes your fancy. It’s quite easy to slip leaves, flowers or lots of other decorative things between individual willow rods.
We make stars of different sizes and styles using willows that make them unique creations. We sell lots at Christmas but some stay up all year round.
All are made to order, so contact us for prices. Sometimes we take a stall at local markets and particularly before Christmas, will have a good selection available.
Trellis
Panels in width and height to suit your garden (between 3 & 6′ long and 1 & 5′ high). Can be used as a division where a solid barrier isn’t what you’re after.
These are lighter and cheaper than hurdles, but the same open approach can be applied to hurdles and continuous weave fencing – more robust uprights are used for a more durable result.
Prices vary according to size and complexity
Decorative willow
It’s beautiful stuff! We sell willow in simple bundles in the depths of winter; it really brightens up a room, lasts for ages and hasn’t been shipped half way around the world.
For something a bit more formal, we produce bolts of willow to your size specification. These are generally of dried material and can be tied with willow, raffia, or any string of your choice.
Willow from around 2′ to well over 7′ available; straight and distorted, branched and unbranched. greens, reds, browns, yellows…
Wedding dressing – if you are planning a wedding and are looking for something unusual to replace or complement flowers, especially in winter when locally produced flowers are a challenge, willow is definitely worth considering.
See our willow page for detailed information about the varieties we grow.
Silver Birch
Large silver birch stems cut from Bedfordshire nature reserves to encourage heathland restoration. Beautiful white bark with dark branches. These work really well in large decorative installations or arches, often used for weddings and other events. Lengths vary from approx 6ft-15ft
Gate Hurdles
Handmade Gate Hurdles made from sallow and/or ash. These beautiful, rustic gates are hand made in the woods using very simple and old-fashioned tools. They look great installed as ornamental trellis for climbing plants, as part of a fence or simply as a decorative garden gate. Approx 1m x 1m. Other sizes to order. Please contact us to find out more about availability and prices.
Hedge Laying Materials
Hazel hedge stakes (roughly straight poles, rarely first grade), 5′ 6″ (168cm) long by 3/4″ (2cm) – 2″ (5cm diameter).
£1.30 each, ready for bashing – pointed at one end and cut flat at the other
£1,10 each as they come (unpointed), usually with ends cut square.
Hazel hedge binders, (9’+ long and 0.5-1″ diameter at butt end (275 x 1.5-2.5cm) – £1.30 each
Willow binders are also often available at £1.30 each
