Harry Lauder's Walking Stick is a form of Corylus avellana - Hazel. (C avellana 'Contorta' AKA Contorted Hazel.) Propagation is generally by grafting. You could give layering or cuttings a go but it will not grow true from seed.

rooted HL sucker wildly .... turning into a rather ugly and unwieldy giant ... i recall one 20 feet in every direction ... the nursery had a bench under it ....

grafted onto non suckering root stock ... they can be maintained in a nice form and shape ...

no clue on seed .... as mine in SE MI .. never nutted .... so i am not sure its fertile .... nor do i know if crosses would show the squiggliness of HL ...

both are rather common in the trade... and you never really know what your are getting ... unless you mail ordered from a reputable firm ....

all that said.. i finally lost mine after a decade or so.. to the filbert blight that is rather common ... see link

link

you might want to talk with your local county extension office [or canadian equivalent] .. to find out if it is wide spread in your area ...

all that said.. part of being a gardener.. is experimenting.. so do all three.. and keep us posted on your results ...

ken

In The Netherlands this shrub is almost always grafted. Big problem is that the root stock always (yes, always!) forms straight stems that compete with the graft and that you have to keep cutting back. Root stock is usually Corylus avellana.

It is possible to layering Contorted Hazel. It forms roots in 1 to 2 years. You won't probably find a layered specimen in the trade as layering Contorted Hazel is usually not done on a commercial basis.

I am cutting off straight stems, a few but it does not seem to make a difference to this one....it is very nice & curly....have been trying to get it to root but no luck so far....had a couple of baby suckers (?) growing but they

died when I went out of town. Even tried from their nuts. Can get the contorted willow to root easily but not this gal? she sets lots of fruit (nuts) and they are very edible.

Maybe we need to clarify things slightly :-)) Contorted filberts, Harry Lauder's Walking Stick, are either grafted onto non-contorted, standard Corylus root stock or, less commonly, grown on their own roots from cuttings. If available, own rootstock plants are more desirable as the chance of suckering is greatly reduced and any suckers that do form will be contorted as well.

And it is important to understand this is not a small shrub. Given time and proper growing conditions, it can easily get 12-15' tall and as much as twice that in width. And pruning should be approached with care as the contorted form of the plant can be unnecessarily altered by excessive pruning. As always, this is a situation where siting should take into consideration the potential mature size of the shrub.

I would not attempt to grow the contorted form from seed. First, most corylus require a second, different clone for efficient cross pollination to provide fruits and therefore no guarantee that any fruit/seeds that do germinate and sprout will be true to form. Either purchase a plant grown on its own roots or attempt propagation by layering or by cuttings. There are various sources online that will coach you though these processes

I have a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick grown on it's own roots. The suckers, as you say, GardenGal, are contorted also. I've made a start with one of them. It doesn't sucker very much though.
The grafted plants are hardly worth the sucker problem as far as I'm concerned. It can be a constant battle that you never win. Coupled with twig dieback, sick looking leaves, and no Fall color make it not so desirable in my mind's eye. It's hard to place, design wise, in a garden because it looks so bad during the growing season. Mine is in a container that's up front in the winter and hidden in the summer.
The garden at the University of British Columbia has a large one.
Mike

I want to move & unable to dig my HL out so please someone tell me how to grow him so I can take him with me...have tried unsuccessfully. so many have different ideas. thanks

Question. I have an old Harry Lauder that I've played with over the years and its trunk is about 10 inches wide. I topped it once 10 years ago at about 3 feet and it did well. Last year I cut it back lengthwise by a third on the side by the front door. (What you see is before I did that).

I'm thinking of topping it again and seeing what happens. I grows quickly and of course is old school and suckers like crazy, but I adore this shrub.

Thoughts? Anyone ever done this to an old Harry?

how about a pic of how it looked after you did it???

or a current pic ...

ken

Here are some current pics...thanks for your reply.

Nice!
Gnarly trunk, upper roots exposed, and you left good branch structure while eliminating the twiggyness. Looks good!
You have the touch.
Mike

Yes, that may be the single best-looking specimen of this plant I've seen! Granted, I haven't seen a lot, but of those, most looked ungainly and were not assets to their respective landscape sites. This one has character.

+oM