Hornbeam: Our Magical Friend 

I have one at the bottom of my garden, clearly it was once part of the hedgerow, but has been let to grow. it's a massive tree with seven intertwined trunks. Every year it drops thousands of seeds, many of which germinate and have been given to friends as the beginning of new Hornbeam hedges. It is a magical tree.

We only have one of these, iirc, in Guntersville AL walking trail. I will definitely bless God for it more thanks to y'all.

Such a beautiful video. I didn't want it to end! 🌳

One of my favourite trees the horn beam, Hard Tree, I have a tea spoon I carved from HB about 10 years ago it’s like iron I use it and have done nearly every day and it’s still as good as the day I carved it it’s just totally tea stained.... lovely video 😉👌👍

The American hornbeam is an understory tree but looks much like the English hornbeam. There is a variety called the Hop Hornbeam that has flowers that look like hops. They are sometimes called muscle beech or musclewood because of the sinewy nature of growth and Ironwood because it is so hard. Also commonly called blue birch or blue beech. They don't seem to grow as large and spread out as the English hornbeam but grow narrow and upright. I have an 8" diameter beam that I placed at the bottom of my stairs that I touch each morning as I come downstairs for breakfast.

Very nice its good to see Mother Nature being appreciated

What a lovely post * Thank you so much for taking the time to share :-)

Nice video. I planted a few hundred of these last year, hopefully will plant them out in 6/7 years

Just lovely!

Oooh I love hornbeam, made some tool handles with some a while ago and think the tools will outlast me. This place looks amazing :)

A long time ago there was a practical term " hornbeam ". Two bulls with large horns and equal in stature, could be tethered with a beam of wood, by the horns. This keeps them working together. Keeps them FORWARD looking and dependent upon each other in working a plow or pulling a wagon or sled.

I must say that I was impressed by the sincerity of the artist Mark Golding and his obvious inter-connection with trees, and in this case the Hornbeam. In regard to the video, and the words of Mr Golding, I would like to point out, if I may, that the name 'Hornbeam' is Old English (Anglo-Saxon) meaning 'Horn-Tree', the word 'beam' being akin to the German 'baum' meaning 'tree'. I cannot find any connection of 'horn-' to 'hard' in Old English, but the Proto-Germanic Root *hernaz can mean 'hard', so perhaps this did have this meaning too. What is also very interesting is the use of Mr Golding's 'nature-spirit growth' since the Old Saxon (from Saxony in Germania) word for 'tree' - 'boom' - gave rise to the expression we use for scaring someone through acting as a 'ghost' - 'boo!' The term 'ghost' originally referred to a 'spirit' and thus the Old English 'beam' may have been linked to this, since the alternative word for 'tree' - treow - could have referred to the physical form. Perhaps the two, over time, became used with the same meaning. Obviously, Edward Bach, who could 'see' the properties of trees and plants, recognised this as being able to 'revive the soul'.

Lovely film, thanks

Beautiful tree!....good luck to everyone involved.

Excellent! We have our own 30 acre forest in the Adirondacks of New York in the USA. We ‘accidentally ‘ discovered this tree this past summer when we were clearing some of our land. We thought it was a beech nut tree but when it fell it had those odd drooping sort of flowers on it! Low and behold a hornbeam. So exciting! Great information in this video. Thanks so much!

Always a pleasure 👍

Wonderful video!! 💚🌿

Loved that video, so educational and inspiring 😍

I have a number of small American Hornbeam here on my property in the mountainous region of New-Jersey but I've never seen any even remotely as large as those. I've harvested a few pieces to use for making tools & tool handles as well as done a couple small greenwood carvings. It's a really beautiful wood with very interesting characteristics. I'd be thrilled beyond measure to find a trunk section over 9"diameter.

I thought the Romans introduced Beech and that Hornbeam was native. Whenever someone asks me to install Beech hedging I always persuade them to have Hornbeam :)

Nice place, I love trees and greenery.🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 My place is very dry and there are no forests, now I am doing my primitive projects inside a cave! Great video, thanks for sharing!

god bless u for caring trees

I come across American hornbeam a lot here in ohio. Its a beautiful tree. It looks like muscle. The bark and shape is very alive looking, like it could reach out and grab you at any moment. The American hornbean is an understory tree so it doesnt get massive.

Unfortunately, in the States we only have carpinus caroliniana, the American hornbeam, which isn't very big compared to your trees. However, we do have the 'fastigiata' cultivar of European hornbeam, which does not spread very wide and is often used as a street tree in American cities. Seattle, Washington, for example, has thousands of them. They are quite narrow when young, but as they mature they spread out and become quite beautiful. Thank you for this video of a wonderful tree.

How beautiful. I enjoyed the video until we got to the sign on the cafe wall. "A world without borders" - riiiiiiight, how's that workin out for you?

Traditionally used for woodworking plane soles and chisel handles. It can be so much more than firewood.

Great video! Thanks :)

In the mountains of western maine, usa we have a Hornbeam tree that is hard as iron. It grows very straight and grows slow. Hard to find one bigger than 10 inches at the base.

Love hornbeams awesome for good firewood in the swampy land I call home.

really enjoyed that. Ive seen these trees i didn't know what they were thought ironwood or beech or something

Good video until full flake at 7:06.

We have an american variety here in the USA that I'll have to keep an eye out for on my next hike. Love the history and Lore included in the video.

Jack Hargreaves stated it doesn't weather like oak so mo gateposts or ships but it's as hard as oak so use it indoors

My bokken is made of hornbeam. It‘s a good, strong wood for weapons.

Hop hornbeam makes a good bow.

Hatfield Forest has many hornbeam trees.

We are doing a Coppice restoration project on a 35 acre Hornbeam wood in south Norfolk (UK) We plan to start making charcoal in the new year. Norfolks Hornbeam woods were very important for the charcoal industry here in east anglia as we needed it for smelting iron etc

Block and tackle used to be made of hornbeam, also the head's of mallets

I'm a hornbeam tree

someone said that a hornbeam turns a good Red, for a good part of the autumn/winter...right up to april--??--does anyone witness?--& if so what shade of red....eg like a copper beech etc? thanks x

I expect I have a few hornbeams lying around, well I did plant some, but to be honest they look much the same as the beech I planted at the same time.

We have hornbeam in the northeast U.S, We call it hop hornbeam. I always thought it was native, apparently not.

🙏👍

some people capitalize on anything🦉bad wisdom. brilliant if you love money. i wonder what a meal costs in that cafe or that woodland "project"?

If the deer feed on the coppice stool, can you pollard?

I cut one of these down not knowing what it was. Tried to split it with axe for firewood. The wood would have nothing to do with it!

First view and comment I think

Hornbeam was called because as the yoke between two draft oxen to pull a wooden plough it wwent on their shoulders with a collar underneath it was a strong but lighter wood than oak and could be shapped to fit the oxen this is the yoke of the bible

It's magical bcuz the leaf opens in the most amazing way. Uh huh?

Do you manage for coppice for firewood production?

: )

Take the music away and this video becomes even more hilarious. This tree grows like a weed. The only redeeming thing about it is that it is a salvageable hardwood. But why would you farm these when you could have healthy oaks with less knots and mill-able lengths. While we're at it, Why would you plant these as street trees when the trimming is horrible around power lines and grows and looks like hot garbage when have to drop crotch them into the shape of a coat rack in the end. These people have made a career out of convincing naive locals. And by the way, I suspect the romans used them for coppicing purposes, which was never even mentioned once in this 8min video.

What are these people smoking?

Tree-wise, not bad, I've sought some info on the subject. But, c'mon guys, if you need to worship, which everyone does, why don't you just use another kind of tree, much more suitable for the purpose, the Tree of the Cross, and cut this infantility.

It looks a little like beach.