It is time to give the large amazing Beech tree the spotlight and see what it can be used for. The beech tree is a survivor and a fighter and can displace and transform entire forests if gets the chance to.
The beech tree is one of the most common and widespread hardwood trees in Europe and can get over 40m tall. Beech trees are known for growing quickly, having large trunks, and having a huge crown of leaves that shades the entire ground.
In Europe, the beech tree marks the border between the European deciduous forest zone and the northern pine forest.
In the USA, beech trees are native to the eastern USA.
The Beech tree can be used as a hedge, to make sports equipment, animals can eat the nuts, humans can eat the nuts, for woodworking, for firewood, as a carving and graffiti wall, to make beer, for tool handles, and for smoking meat
Beeches Are One Of The Best Trees For Hedges
The beach tree is a perfect tree to use as a hedge. Simply plant a whole bunch of beech trees in a row and they will grow very well in a synchronized manner. The beech tree requires minimal maintenance as a hedge but will need to be trimmed into shape yearly because of the quick growth of beeches.
Even though beeches are deciduous trees where the leaves die off in the spring and winter, the leaves actually hang onto the tree over the winter and until next spring. The new leaves that develop in the spring will push the old leaves out of the way. This means you will have foliage on the beech hedge all year round.
Beech trees grow very well together, they will sense and work with the other beech trees in the hedge and they will form a uniform unit of beeches.
Beech Wood Makes Great Sports Equipment
Beech is a great wood to use for certain types of sports equipment that need to handle some hard hits and sudden impacts. A great example of this is in the use of Bats. Bats that are made from beech are usually made from the European Beech tree.
European Beech is elastic, durable, and dense. Europen Beech bats are easy to swing and produces a trampoline effect when it hits the ball and increases the distance you can hit the ball.
Animals Love Beech Nuts
Beech trees only produce nuts every five years or so. But in the years when they do produce nuts, they produce a lot. The trees do this to overflow the ground with beech nuts so animals will not be able to eat all of them, and the seeds that were not eaten will be able to grow into trees.
There is no shortage of animals that loves to eat the beechnuts. Birds like the blue jays, ruffed grouse, wood ducks, turkeys, and some of the woodpeckers.
Many mammals also eat the beechnut, mice, deer, chipmunks, feral hogs, foxes, squirrels, and the black bear loves to eat the beechnut.
Humans Can Eat The Beech-Nut
The beech nuts can also be eaten by us humans but in small quantities. The nuts contain some organic components that can be toxic to humans if eaten in large quantities. Roasting the nuts will make them less toxic and give you the ability to eat a little bit more of them.
Trying to eat one or two nuts while you are in the forest to see how they taste, or roasting some and adding them to your salad should be just fine.
*Avoid eating beech nuts if pregnant or breastfeeding
Beech Wood Is Great For Woodworking
Beechwood has a closed-grain structure with a consistent tan color to the wood. Beechwood is very nice to work with, both with machining tools and hand tools like spokeshaves, chisels, and hand planes. Beechwood is also very pleasant and quick to sand.
In woodworking, beech is mainly used for, cabinetry, cooking utensils, furniture tool handles, plywood, and sports equipment.
Beech Wood Can Be Used As Firewood
Beech is a great wood to use as firewood. Beech has a high BTU* of 27.5 BTUs. This is more than most other woods that are considered as good firewoods. Beech firewood will produce a lot of heat when burned.
*BTU = A measurement of heat energy
Beech also has a naturally low water content in the wood, it will season quickly and be ready to use within a year when seasoned properly.
Beech Firewood = Best Firewood
The Bark Of Living Beeches Is Used For Carving (Do Not Do It!)
The bark of the beech tree is flat and smooth. People have noticed that this bark is perfect to carve certain things into, like their initials and love declarations. This has been done for many decades and the beech tree also holds these carvings and messages for decades.
If you take a close look at the bark of some beech trees on your next walk, you will most likely see these carvings. Some of them even state the date of when it was carved into the bark. It can be quite interesting to see what people have written on the tree 10, 20, or even 30 years ago.
It is a keeper of history and “art”. But in a toilet booth kind of way.
But it is not recommended to carve anything into the bark of beech trees. Carving a living beech tree will open a wound and make it susceptible to infections and insect attacks.
Beech Chips Can Be Used To Make Beer
Wood Chips from the beech tree are used to aid in the production of beer. More specifically the beer chips are helping the yeast to cover more ground and produce a larger surface area that is in contact with the beer under the lagering process.
If wood chips were not used, the yeast would aggregate at the bottom of the tank and cover less surface area, and less yeast fermentation would be able to occur.
The beech chips are not used for adding any flavor to the beer and are cleaned thoroughly before use.
Tool Handles Can Be Made Out Of Beech
Beech is a strong and durable wood that makes for great tool handles. Beech can handle being worked with power tools and hand tools, takes finishes well, and ages well. There are very few downsides to using beech for tool handles.
Beechwood is very flexible and malleable compared to its density and hardness. This means that it can take sudden hits and shock very well which makes it good for tools that need to be able to take a beating, like ax handles, hammer handles, chisels, or mallets.
Beech Gives Good Flavor When Smoking Meat!
Beech is a great wood for flavoring and smoking meat. Beech is a dense wood that burns long and slow, it also gives off a subtle and sweet taste to the meat.
Beech is an all-rounder for smoking meat. You can use it for almost anything from fish to any type of meat. It is hard to overdo the use of beech wood in the smoker.
Check Out The Uses Of Other Tree Species
Uses Of The Maple Tree: Click To See Article
Uses Of The Pine Tree: Click To See Article
Uses Of Spruce: Click To See Article
Uses Of The Birch Tree: Click To See Article
Uses Of The Beech Tree: Click To See Article
Uses Of The Hickory Tree: Click To See Article
Uses Of The Poplar Tree: Click To See Article
