Ken wrote:

Hi Everyone
Can anyone tell me what kind of trees I should plant for regular
coppicing for burning on a woodburning stove? I want something that
will burn well, but not take donkey's years to grow (I'm a bit of an
old donkey to start with!)

Our soil is poor, acid and stony.

There's some information you don't give which could influence the
answer, such as how much wood you expect to use, how much land you can
put down to trees, whether you live above the tree-line or right on the
coast, and so on.

I don't think acid or stony are particularly problematic, as woodland
soils are naturally acidic, I believe, but coppicing is an intensive use
of land and a poor soil won't allow intensive production. Economics
comes into the equation here. You could improve the soil while growing
the trees but you'd have to import something --manure, compost or
topsoil-- to give the new planting a good start. If you only want the
occasional cheery fire in winter, though, you might be better off simply
buying logs.

I think the best trees for this use would be ash, sycamore (or Norway
maple), birch, and possibly sweet chestnut, if these will grow in your
area. They are all good burning wood, unlike poplar and willow. Ash and
sycamore both sprout readily from a robust root system. However, if time
is of the essence, coppicing may not be the best bet. Instead, you might
think of planting much closer, perhaps 1200 - 1500 to the acre, in order
to have more wood sooner. When coppicing for firewood the initial tree
needs to grow to more or less log-size, say 4" diameter, before cutting
to form the stool in order to have a solid root system. On good soil
that means about 10-12 years, longer on poor soil. The stool then grows
more quickly because it doesn't have to establish roots, but it's still
a longish time before you have a sustainable system. Perhaps, depending
on how much land is to be used, the plantation could be divided, with an
intial stand planted very close while you extend/improve the rest over
time.

On the actual planting I would dig trenches at the required spacing,
perhaps with the help of a local farmer and a ridging plough or
something, fill those with imported topsoil and plant cell-grown trees
in that. This would give them a decent start and allow you a year or two
during which you could get a tiller between the rows for working more
soil-improving material in. IME trees don't respond particularly well to
applied fertilisers, except that young trees will benefit a lot from a
liberal dressing of superphosphate for the first year or two while they
establish roots.

Another problem with a poor soil, especially on a slope, is poor water
retention. Trees need a lot of water. I'm growing them on a Welsh hill
and in high summer for the first 5 years or so had to water them; quite
a job when there's hundreds. Birch seem quite sensitive in this regard.

And after all that there's the matter of protection, from rabbits, deer,
gales and who knows what else. Stakes, tree guards, fencing... You don't
--or may not-- have to do any of that if you have a lot of land and a
lot of time and can let the trees fend for themselves. It may be your
grandchildren who get to burn the wood, though.

HTH

Brian Mitchell