Alas poor hazels.

Mrs T and I have been busy coppicing (i.e. hacking back)  our 6 very neglected and much overgrown hazel trees. They are now but stumps.
The flowers of the hazel tree appear very early in spring, before the leaves. Each tree produces both male flowers and female flowers. The male catkins are pale yellow, large and very obvious, whereas the female ones are very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright-red styles visible.