A little more detail…

Woodland Leaf Rings

Choose Your Tree. Carry a Little Piece of the Woodland With You.

Oak. Hawthorn. Willow. Rowan. Alder. Ash.

Every tree has its own shape, its own character and, if you look back far enough, its own collection of stories.

The Woodland Leaf Rings bring these individual trees together into one collection of small handcrafted silver rings.

Each ring carries a different leaf or woodland symbol, individually cut, shaped and detailed at the Hairy Growler bench.

Choose the tree that means something to you.

Choose Your Leaf

Select your design from the options and images shown on this page.

Oak Leaf

Strong, unmistakable and deeply rooted in the British landscape.

The oak has long represented endurance, protection, wisdom and strength.

Its distinctive lobed leaf makes a beautiful little piece of natural sculpture in silver.

For strength, roots and the things built to last.

Acorn

The beginning of the oak.

A tiny seed containing the possibility of something that may eventually stand for centuries.

The acorn has become a natural symbol of potential, growth and beginnings.

Small beginnings. Deep roots. Great possibilities.

Alder Leaf

Alder loves the places where land meets water.

You will find it beside rivers, streams, wetlands and damp woodland, often with its roots standing close to the water’s edge.

Its rounded, slightly notched leaf gives the alder ring a beautifully simple botanical shape.

Alder has traditionally been associated with resilience, protection and the ability to thrive between two worlds.

A tree of riverbanks, boundaries and quiet resilience.

Ash Leaf

Elegant and finely divided, the ash has a very different character from the heavier oak.

Its leaves reach outward in pairs along a slender stem, giving the ring a light, flowing shape.

Ash has gathered associations with strength, connection and protection throughout European mythology and folklore.

For connection, movement and strength without heaviness.

Hawthorn Leaf

The hawthorn belongs to old lanes, field boundaries and tangled British hedgerows.

In spring it becomes the May Tree, covering itself in pale blossom as the countryside turns towards summer.

For generations it has been associated with protection, thresholds, hope and the mysterious edge between the cultivated and the wild.

A little piece of the old hedgerow.

Willow Leaf

Long, narrow and graceful, the willow leaf creates one of the most flowing designs in the collection.

Willows bend rather than resist.

Perhaps that is why they have gathered meanings of adaptability, intuition, healing and resilience.

There is strength in knowing how to bend.

Rowan Leaf

Rowan has one of the strongest connections with old British and Celtic folklore.

Its delicate leaves and brilliant berries made it instantly recognisable, while generations of stories gave the tree a reputation for protection.

Rowan was traditionally planted close to homes and carried as a charm against misfortune.

A small silver talisman from one of our great protective trees.

More Trees Will Join the Woodland

This is intended to be a living collection.

As new leaf designs emerge from the Hairy Growler bench, they can join the woodland.

Alongside oak, alder, ash, hawthorn, willow and rowan you may find other native trees and botanical forms appearing over time.

Each will have its own shape.

Each will have its own story.

The woodland does not stop at seven trees.

Your Tree Might Already Mean Something

Sometimes we choose a tree because of its folklore.

Sometimes the connection is much simpler.

The oak outside a childhood home.

A willow beside a favourite stretch of river.

Rowan berries appearing every autumn.

A hawthorn hedge along a familiar lane.

The tree planted when somebody was born.

Or the species that grows in a place we still think of as home.

Jewellery does not always need somebody else to decide its symbolism.

Sometimes you already know what the tree means.

Made by Hand, Leaf by Leaf

These are not cast copies of a generic leaf.

Each design begins with silver at the Hairy Growler bench.

The leaf is cut and shaped individually before its botanical character is worked back into the metal by hand.

Edges are refined.

Veins are engraved.

Surfaces are finished.

The leaf is then formed into a ring that feels like a tiny piece of the plant has wrapped itself around your finger.

Because each one is made by hand, small differences naturally occur.

A vein may travel slightly differently.

An edge may curve a little more.

A leaf may sit at a subtly different angle.

That variation is part of handmade jewellery.

Recycled Silver

Recycled material sits at the heart of Hairy Growler jewellery.

I have always preferred working with silver that already has a history rather than treating precious metal as something that must begin perfectly new.

Old silver can be cut, forged, shaped and given another life.

There is something particularly appropriate about using it to make leaves.

Nature wastes very little.

Materials change form and become useful again.

The same idea runs through my work.

A Botanical Ring Without the Botanical Perfection

Real leaves are not perfectly symmetrical.

One edge grows differently from the other.

Veins wander.

Tips bend.

Insects leave marks.

Weather changes them.

I want these rings to retain some of that natural character.

They are inspired by botanical forms rather than made to look as though they came from a machine.

The hand of the maker should still be visible.

Find Your Leaf

Use the product images and selection menu to choose your design.

• Oak Leaf – strength, endurance and deep roots
• Acorn – potential, beginnings and growth
• Alder Leaf – resilience, water and the spaces between
• Ash Leaf – connection, protection and strength
• Hawthorn Leaf – hope, protection and the wild hedgerow
• Willow Leaf – adaptability, intuition and resilience
• Rowan Leaf – protection, folklore and old woodland magic

Further tree and leaf designs may be added to the collection as they are developed.

Product Details

• Handcrafted botanical leaf ring
• Choice of woodland tree and leaf designs
• Current designs include oak, acorn, alder, ash, hawthorn, willow and rowan
• Hand cut and individually shaped
• Fine hand engraved leaf vein detailing
• Made using recycled silver
• Individually handcrafted at the Hairy Growler bench
• Each leaf will have subtle handmade variations
• Available designs can be selected using the product options and reference images

The Hairy Growler Woodland

Together, the rings form something larger than a collection of individual designs.

A tiny woodland.

Oak for strength.

Hawthorn at the boundary.

Alder beside the water.

Willow bending over the river.

Rowan standing guard.

Ash reaching towards the sky.

And the acorn waiting quietly for its chance to become something enormous.

You only need to choose which tree travels with you.

Choose your leaf. Find your tree. Carry a little of the woodland with you.