Fast growing willow for firewood

03-02-2013 11:55pm

Re: Slow growers, it appears that the rounder the leaf, the slower it grows, not very scientific, but just based on observations. There are a lot of hybrids out there.

paddy147 · 05-02-2013 1:20am

Wouldnt you need to let the willow season though??

As let is season dry when you have cut it up for firewood so it has a low moisture content and is good to burn?????.

daisymac · 05-02-2013 12:43pm

Yes paddy - between growing and seasoning, we are presuming it will be at least 5 years before we have anything for the boiler! (are we right?)
Luckily we have some supply for the meantime, but willow is certainly one of things things that needs forward planning

09-04-2014 7:28pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I got round that issue by picking different types from around the area, unfortunately I included a lot of slow growers in the mix , so i will replace most of those this winter.

Just to follow up on this thread;

I planted a lot of short "sticks" last year (Jan 2013), but the weather was so bad that almost all of it failed to grow!

This year I tried again but this time using longer sticks and it has really taken off, so I am hoping to be able to start coppicing this winter coming.

I plan to divide the field into four "years" and coppice one section each year.

Oldtree · 10-04-2014 10:36am

was probably the slugs eating the small leaves as the buds burst, I had the same problem with small cuttings.

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 8:34am

Hi,

I've started growing willow for logs in Wicklow and am documenting progress in a blog. It can be accessed here:

willowforlogs.blogspot.com

Hope is of some use to folk!

mjv2ydratu679c · 21-06-2017 9:22am

Smeeeeeee wrote: »

Hi,

I've started growing willow for logs in Wicklow and am documenting progress in a blog. It can be accessed here:

willowforlogs.blogspot.com

Hope is of some use to folk!

Great blog. Could you put up a guide to the costs involved?

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 1:00pm

Thanks!!

Good question about costs. So far 200 x 3ft whips cost me Stg?268 delivered to Wicklow.

I've applied weed killer twice (once before planting and once after at a cost of approx. €5.

I manufactured a spike to make the initial holes, if someone had to pay to get one made, I'd guess at €30?

And that's it apart from my time to plant, kill weeds and strip buds.

I plan to use offcuts from the first coppice to plant the next year, and repeat for 5-6 years until the first 200 are ready to harvest.

I'll add a post on costs to the blog later.

Cheers

Tim

mjv2ydratu679c · 21-06-2017 1:05pm

Smeeeeeee wrote: »

Thanks!!

Good question about costs. So far 200 x 3ft whips cost me Stg?268 delivered to Wicklow.

I've applied weed killer twice (once before planting and once after at a cost of approx. €5.

I manufactured a spike to make the initial holes, if someone had to pay to get one made, I'd guess at €30?

And that's it apart from my time to plant, kill weeds and strip buds.

I plan to use offcuts from the first coppice to plant the next year, and repeat for 5-6 years until the first 200 are ready to harvest.

I'll add a post on costs to the blog later.

Cheers

Tim

Great stuff - were the rabbit protectors expensive?

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 1:13pm

Well spotted!! 100 cost €27 on ebay so €54 total for 200.

mjv2ydratu679c · 21-06-2017 1:22pm

Smeeeeeee wrote: »

Well spotted!! 100 cost €27 on ebay so €54 total for 200.

Cheers, sorry for all the questions, its just something I'd be interested in doing myself at some stage

Smeeeeeee · 21-06-2017 1:23pm

No problem, glad to help. That's kind of the reason for the blog, and to help with my memory loss!!!

El Kabong! · 30-06-2017 1:49pm

Hi Smeeee, nice blog.... as can be seen from this thread I am doing exactly the same and am about 4-5 years ahead of you.
My first batch of 500 should be ready for harvesting but I think I am going to leave them longer. I have no interest in chippings but would like mini logs.
I think I will change from having 4x500 in rotation every 4 years to a 6 or 7 years rotation with less (but thicker) each time. This doesn't bother me as my wood burner is not the main heat source or hooked up to the central heating.

Smeeeeeee · 30-06-2017 2:13pm

Hi There,

A couple of quick questions fro you!

How thick are your stems after 4 years? And on average how many stems have you got on each tree?

Like you I'm looking for thicker logs, ideally 75-100mm so I wont have to split them. just cut, stack and burn!!

Any idea what variety you planted?

Thanks,

Tim

El Kabong! · 30-06-2017 2:48pm

Well, after 1 year I did what I call copparding.... not quite coppicing or pollarding.... I cut them all down to about 90 cm high. So the first batch have had 4 years since then..... they all grew between 4-8 stems. In order to plant my last set of 500 I thinned down this first set of 500 to 4-5 stems each, in an effort to have thicker stems, rather than just a thick trunk and many thin rods.

TBH I thought it would all be a lot thicker. I have some trunks below 90cm that are probably 10cm in diameter but not all. Some of the stems coming from them are thick enough to be considered mini logs, but with the height if the willow it's obvious that I will have many lengths that I will just chop up into kindling wood, or use as rods for fencing or something!

So at the moment I would say I could coppice them, and have the trunk about 90-100cm for about 90cm length and then 4-5 stems of varying thicknesses.

The first 500 I planted were a hybrid variety from Bow Hayes trees (https://www.bowhayestrees.co.uk/trees-hedges/trees-by-range/hybrid-willow) and grew very fast. Sets 2,3,4 were a 5 species mix from Mammoth (https://mammothwillow.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24&products_id=73&zenid=up50fno88skou8tc9bb9at1391) not sure if mine are the same as listed here. They have not been as fast but I'm not sure if it's the cold spring/summers we have had or the species. They are getting there though.

Of the 2000 I have planted only a bare handful didn't take. I strimmed a few dozen by accident but who's counting....

I am not sure if I should pollard for a few iterations and end up with massive trunks I can then coppice for proper logs... and let the process restart. Like you I am 'copparding' at 90cms to 100cms in order to make manual harvesting easier.

ted1 · 01-07-2017 6:52pm

Just out of interest are you drying them out and if so how ?

Smeeeeeee · 03-07-2017 1:38pm

ted1 wrote: »

Just out of interest are you drying them out and if so how ?

Yes I plan to dry them as follows. Cut them in October/November and dry outside in full lengths (stacked to allow airflow through the pile), then in March/April I'll cut them to size and store under cover (log shed with gaps in walls and floor) for the summer. That system works well with all my other wood types (pine, fir, hazel, sycamore, ash, holly etc.).

Some people say willow takes a little longer to dry out, so will have to see how it goes.

El Kabong! · 03-07-2017 3:34pm

Why are you cutting in Oct/Nov.... would you not wait until January/Feb for the 'real' winter when they are dormant?

El Kabong! · 03-07-2017 3:40pm

I took a few photos yesterday to show the progress of my oldest set.

Smeeeeeee · 04-07-2017 10:39am

Wow, That's after 4 years? looks to be some descent 2" - 3" stems in that lot.

Great pics, many thanks for sharing.

Fast growing willow for firewood

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