Ceanothus or California Lilac dry / cure

[JRHill]

We love this stuff, kind'of. In the spring it scents the whole forest with its blooms and it literally holds in erosion prone hillsides. On the other side it takes over certain areas and snuffs tree seedlings of life. In some places we cut at ground level and others we rip it out by the roots.

But it still has uses. The wood is really flexible and HARD. It's tough stuff yet still flexible. We have save some larger stands but they are rarely bigger than 2" dia. So here is the question:

How can it be dried/cured so it doesn't crack through the length? Sometimes the cracks are cool but what if 'ya don't want them? We've tried many different things but maybe that is just the nature of the stems?

Best,
JRH