Contorted Harry Lauder shrub adds interest

Several years ago, a friend asked for ideas for a specimen shrub for a revised section of her garden.

Without hesitation I recommended Harry Lauder walking stick (Corylus avellana “contorta”).

She recoiled with such distaste, I knew it wasn’t a winner.

She preferred plants that grew straight and tall. I like asymmetry, contortion and unpredictable growth patterns because they challenge one’s sense of aesthetics.

The common name refers to the renowned and knighted Scottish music hall entertainer and singer-songwriter who lived from 1870 to 1950. As a part of his stage persona, he carried, danced around and leaned over a gnarled walking stick.

I have two Harry Lauders as gates between the front and north gardens. The front garden gently slopes upward toward the house, so the shrubs are prominent from the street and soften the corner of the house.

Harry grows well in Zone 5, surviving summer heat and winter winds. It is drought tolerant and disease free and requires no fertilizing other than a good mulching every once in a while.

Sun or part shade is good, as is well-drained soil.

Because it is a grafted cultivar (rootstock: Corylus columa), it may send up suckers from that rootstock. Unless the suckers are cut off, the shrub may revert to its noncontorted origins.

This shrub is a filbert (hazelnut), so you can expect the appearance of small nuts. The leaves are similar to filbert leaves: serrated edges, deep green and fuzzy. The leaves also contort in twisty fashion.

If left to follow its course, Harry will grow 8 to 10 feet with a similar spread. Through careful and judicious pruning, I’ve given my two a weeping-shrub shape and maintained the height at about 6 feet with equal spread.

Pruning is an annual undertaking because I use the cuttings and share some with others who find clever uses for them. Depending on the size of a floral arrangement (fresh or dried), a few crooked sticks provide pleasing accents.

When I’ve made some major cuttings, I’ve woven them together into wreaths that are remarkable for their asymmetrical openness and intriguing decorating challenges. Friends have used cuttings to hang over doorways instead of the usual greens during the winter holidays.

When the leaves fall, revealing the marvelous structure of Harry Lauder, I string white lights through the branches for an audacious winter show.