Tree species: hornbeam (belongs to the birch family)

Color: white to cream or grayish white

Hardness: extremely hard

Characteristics: an extremely hard, dense and heavy light-colored wood, rather harmonious and regular

Heartwood: no, it is a sapwood tree (the heartwood is indistinguishable from the sapwood in color)

Psychological correspondence: it is an adaptable wood that stands its ground in almost any situation. Confidence, imperturbability, perseverance, resilience and an irrepressible will to live are among the outstanding characteristics of this tree species. People born under the sign of the hornbeam never give up, endure every injury and do not let themselves be diverted from their goals. Thanks to their strong regenerative capacity, they know no age and defy transience. The hedges grow so densely that they are even suitable as living defense structures. At the same time, hornbeam hedges definitely have a friendly nature, without thorns and fiery threatening gestures.

Properties/Use: Model making, mechanical engineering, wood turning, plane soles, tool handles, billiard cues, chopping blocks for butchers, often used as table tops in inns, tool styles, folding rules, shuttles and sleeves in the textile industry, wainwrighting (wheel hubs, spokes, runners), piano making, shoemaker's mouldings, shoe pins, perfect wood for architectural model making (mills beautifully), sports equipment, umbrella and walking sticks, household and kitchen utensils.

Value/availability: good to moderate (regionally variable) availability, inexpensive wood.

Cutting time in arboriculture: in summer (from about May to August), after full leaf sprout

Segregation behavior: very good

Pruning and wound closure: according to current guidelines ZTV Baumpflege, before knot ring up to (as far as possible) max. 10 cm diameter, no wound closure (as ineffective).

Sources of the information:

• My own experience/knowledge and documents from my wood economics studies at the Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences.
• Native timber (loose-leaf collection) Authors D. Grosser and W. Teetz. CMA, Bonn-publisher -Holzabsatzfonds-Bonn 1998
• Book Volker Drolshagen/Karin Hoffmann: The Language of Trees (1997)
• Website https://www.everyday-feng-shui.de