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Trees good for coppicing
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. TIA Joan in Ayrshire remove 'spam' from email to reply |
#2
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Trees good for coppicing
In article , Ken writes: | | 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. That's your problem. Look around and see what deciduous trees grow naturally (or well), and try them. Rowan will grow, if you are prepared to risk the witches' wrath. But, traditionally, people generally used gorse for fuel on that sort of land. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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Trees good for coppicing
"Ken" wrote in message ... 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. TIA Joan in Ayrshire remove 'spam' from email to reply Hazel Birch Poplar and Willows will tolerate poor soils and were trees of choice for the coppices of the past and the biosmass projects of today. Derek |
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Trees good for coppicing
In article , "Derek" writes: | "Ken" wrote in message | ... | | 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. | | Hazel Birch Poplar and Willows will tolerate poor soils and were trees of | choice for the coppices of the past and the biosmass projects of today. Not really. My understanding is that birch is one of the few native deciduous trees that doesn't coppice well, and poplars were not traditionally coppiced. All of those except hazel and, to a lesser extent, birch are 'pulpwoods' and do not burn well. Hazel will just about tolerate poor soils, but grows well only on very rich ones. Birch is a good bet, but might involve a different management; i.e. growing a mixture of ages, and removing the 'mature' trees for fuel. But even that won't grow fast on that soil. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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Trees good for coppicing
"Ken" wrote 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. Hardwoods are better than softwoods once a fire is going as they take longer to burn, Hornbeam is a hard wood that takes well to Coppicing and is a UK native. (hornbeam means horn tree, referring to its hardness) Coppicing is, by it's nature, a long term investment and for decent firewood I would expect a 20 to 25 (or more) year cycle to be the time you need to think about. However with a poor soil it may take longer. -- Regards Bob Hobden |
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Trees good for coppicing
Hi Joan,
For what it's worth I grew up in woodland (down south). Ash 'burns fierce when it is green' - and will readily shoot when cut from the base. It should grow well where you are. Rowan is of course an ash... but is not usually 'coppiced'. The Rowan's berries are very valuable for winter feeding birds, attractive, and so best left for decorative use. Ash, like Hazel, is also reasonably 'quick' growing, and is an extremely useful timber to have around - ash has a strong grain and grows very straight 'without knots'. It doesn't rot or split easily either, and so is perfect for tool handles and fencing stakes. Hazel is normally coppiced every 14 years ;-) Willow is lousy for fires, much too sappy. Keith |
#7
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Trees good for coppicing
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 |
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Trees good for coppicing
In article , "Keith \(Dorset\)" writes: | | For what it's worth I grew up in woodland (down south). | | Ash 'burns fierce when it is green' - and will readily shoot when cut from | the base. It should grow well where you are. Rowan is of course an ash... | but is not usually 'coppiced'. The Rowan's berries are very valuable for | winter feeding birds, attractive, and so best left for decorative use. Ash won't like poor, acid stony soils at all - and rowan is only called an ash (it isn't closely related). Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#9
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Trees good for coppicing
In article , brian mitchell writes: | Ken wrote: | | 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. | | I don't think acid or stony are particularly problematic, as woodland | soils are naturally acidic, .... Acidity isn't a simple on/off factor. The acidity of woodland soils is a result of the humus; acidity in clay is also a different matter from acidity in peat, which is different from acidity in stony soils. Some of them cause serious problems; others don't. | 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. ... My guess is that the only one of those that would grow in that soil is birch. But it depends on HOW poor and acid the soil is, and WHY. He should certainly look around and see what grows in the area. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
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Trees good for coppicing
In message , "Keith (Dorset)"
writes Hi Joan, For what it's worth I grew up in woodland (down south). Ash 'burns fierce when it is green' - and will readily shoot when cut from the base. It should grow well where you are. Rowan is of course an ash... but is not usually 'coppiced'. The Rowan's berries are very valuable for winter feeding birds, attractive, and so best left for decorative use. Like the eucalyptus, botanically rowan is not an ash. An ash is a member of genus Fraxinus in the Oleaceae (olive family); a rowan (or mountain ash) is a member of genus Sorbus sensu strictu in the Rosaceae (rose family). (Sorbus sensu lato includes also includes whitebeams and service trees). There's also a prickly ash, not closely related to either. There is little similarity between ashes and rowans - other than the pinnate leaves and arborescent habit. Ash, like Hazel, is also reasonably 'quick' growing, and is an extremely useful timber to have around - ash has a strong grain and grows very straight 'without knots'. It doesn't rot or split easily either, and so is perfect for tool handles and fencing stakes. Hazel is normally coppiced every 14 years ;-) Willow is lousy for fires, much too sappy. Keith -- Stewart Robert Hinsley |
#11
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Trees good for coppicing
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , "Derek" writes: | "Ken" wrote in message | ... | | 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. | | Hazel Birch Poplar and Willows will tolerate poor soils and were trees of | choice for the coppices of the past and the biosmass projects of today. Not really. My understanding is that birch is one of the few native deciduous trees that doesn't coppice well, and poplars were not traditionally coppiced. All of those except hazel and, to a lesser extent, birch are 'pulpwoods' and do not burn well. Hazel will just about tolerate poor soils, but grows well only on very rich ones. Birch is a good bet, but might involve a different management; i.e. growing a mixture of ages, and removing the 'mature' trees for fuel. But even that won't grow fast on that soil. Regards, Nick Maclaren. According to the Forestry Commission poplar are now regarded as one of the short rotation (2/3yrs) biomass candidates yields approximate to willows http://www.forestry.gov.uk/src which I guess is pretty close to whats required Birch has long been coppiced for the production of charcoal as a colonising species often the first to grow successfully on burnt or previously flooded or developed ground so could be the best bet if the gorund is really rocky with thin sandy soils , as you say will need drying. whatever species is planted tho' for the coppicing to persist they will need an input of nutrients over time I'd stick my neck out and say the hazel will largely depend on variety I have seen them growing in some very inhospitable places though its possible they were established at a time when the ground was more fertile. Cuttings ( or suckers if no one is looking ) don't cost much so they must be worth a try. I missed out this year when contractors levelled the hazels at work while the nuts were just coming ripe too :-( Derek |
#12
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Trees good for coppicing
In article , "Derek" writes: | | According to the Forestry Commission poplar are now regarded as one | of the short rotation (2/3yrs) biomass candidates ... Poplar is another pulpwood, and doesn't burn much better than willow. It also is a tree of alluvial plains, and doesn't do well on stony, poor hillsides. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#13
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Trees good for coppicing
In message , Nick Maclaren
writes In article , "Derek" writes: | | According to the Forestry Commission poplar are now regarded as one | of the short rotation (2/3yrs) biomass candidates ... Poplar is another pulpwood, and doesn't burn much better than willow. It also is a tree of alluvial plains, and doesn't do well on stony, poor hillsides. What about aspen? (I don't know about the European form, but the American species should be coppiceable. Regards, Nick Maclaren. -- Stewart Robert Hinsley |
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Trees good for coppicing
In article , Stewart Robert Hinsley writes: | | Poplar is another pulpwood, and doesn't burn much better than willow. | It also is a tree of alluvial plains, and doesn't do well on stony, | poor hillsides. | | What about aspen? (I don't know about the European form, but the | American species should be coppiceable. It would definitely seem worth trying. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#15
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Trees good for coppicing
On 28 Apr, 10:16, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article , Stewart Robert Hinsley writes: | | Poplar is another pulpwood, and doesn't burn much better than willow. | It also is a tree of alluvial plains, and doesn't do well on stony, | poor hillsides. | | What about aspen? (I don't know about the European form, but the | American species should be coppiceable. It would definitely seem worth trying. Regards, Nick Maclaren. WOOD HEAT Beech wood fires are bright and clear If the logs are kept a year. Chestnuts only good, they say If for long its laid away. But ash wood new or ash wood old Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold. Birch and fir logs burn too fast, Blaze up bright and do not last. Is by the Irish said Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread. Elm wood burns like churchyard mould - Even the very flames are cold; But ash wood green and ash wood brown Is fit for a queen with a golden crown. Poplar gives a bitter smoke, Fills your eyes and makes you choke. Apple wood will scent your room With an incense like perfume. Oaken logs if dry and old Keep away the winter cold. But ash wood wet and ash wood dry A king shall warm his slippers by. Oak logs will warm you well, If they're warm and dry. Larch logs of pine wood smell But sparks will fly. Beech logs for Christmas time; Yew logs heat well. Scotch logs its a crime For anyone to sell. Birch logs will burn too fast, Chestnut scarce at all. Hawthorn logs are good to last, If cut in the fall. Holly logs will burn like wax, You should burn them green. Elm logs like smouldering flax; No flames to be seen. Pear logs and apple logs, They will scent your room. Cherry logs across the dogs Smell like flowers in bloom. But ash logs all smooth and gray, Burn them green or old, Buy up all that come you way, They're worth their weight in gold. From Tree farm by John Estabrook David Hill Abacus Nurseries |
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